How is Labour’s local election campaign going?

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Just seven days to go until polling day. This time next week you will be on the doorstep, campaigning for the local Labour candidates who need you most (I hope). Not sure where to help? Momentum have launched their handy online tool My Nearest Marginal, which became so useful during last year’s general election. They’ve listed 24 key councils where either Labour is at risk of losing control, or just a few wins in the right wards could clinch the deal and transform a local authority.

One of the key areas listed is Kensington and Chelsea. Candidate Luke Francis today writes for LabourList describing how “the mood has changed” in the borough, where wards that “once struggled to field ‘paper’ candidates now boast a full slate of committed and active local members”. This, after all, is where Emma Dent Coad snatched victory from the Tories last year when Kensington became one of June’s most unexpected gains for Labour.

We’re not getting ahead of ourselves – RBKC is likely to be one of the few councils the Tories have left in London after May 3rd, along with Bromley, Bexley, Hillingdon and possibly Westminster. But the energy there is a fantastic reflection of a campaigning culture in the party, and will come in useful when the parliamentary seat is next up to be defended.

Next week, 4,350 seats are up for grabs across 150 councils. All in England and many in metropolitan areas including London, Labour is likely to do very well. But the party has a couple of problems at the moment.

First, it doesn’t seem to be doing much expectation management. There are good reasons for this: a Corbynsceptic HQ was accused of lacking ambition in terms of choosing target seats last year, which is to be avoided; and optimism helps to boost activists on the doorstep. However it means the Tories may successfully spin the results as a disappointment for Labour when literally every council in London fails to turn red – setting the bar impossibly high.

The other problem is that 2014 results were so good for Labour, there aren’t all that many gains to be made. As Luke Akehurst pointed out in his excellent analysis of what good local elections results would look like, there are very few councils that could change hands out of those up for election this year. His piece is well worth a read if you want to know which areas to keep an eye on, although of course you’ll also be following LabourList‘s liveblog on the night.

Good luck to all Labour candidates. See you on the doorstep this weekend.

Sienna @siennamarla

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