Starmer launches fresh ‘partygate’ attack on Johnson as local elections loom

Keir Starmer has issued a fresh attack on Boris Johnson over the ‘partygate’ scandal. On his way to the Welsh Labour local elections launch yesterday, the Labour leader accused the Prime Minister of having “presiding over widespread criminality in his own home and in his own office”. The police have issued 20 fines in their investigation into alleged rule-breaking social gatherings in Downing Street so far. After Johnson initially told parliament that no public health regulations were broken, his allies are now shifting the blame to civil servants – claiming officials “misled” the Prime Minister over the events that took place. “I’m afraid I’ve got absolutely no truck with the latest defence,” Starmer told The Mirror. “I don’t buy it, the public won’t buy it, it’s obvious nonsense.”

The question for Starmer is not necessarily whether the public do or do not reject the latest fragile defence hastily put up by the Prime Minister, but whether anger over partygate translates into electoral gains. LabourList has an excellent piece for readers today after our reporter Katie spoke to activists campaigning in the local elections in Bury (where Labour gained an MP recently in Tory defector Christian Wakeford), who told her of the “frustration and anger” at the Conservatives. But Labour sources remain cautious in their optimism. “The die is cast in terms of believing that Johnson’s a liar,” the former Labour for MP for Bury North James Frith told LabourList. “It’s whether people then conclude that because he is, that’s enough to depart from [the Conservatives] in terms of votes.” The worry for Labour, and the hope for the Tories, is that people have moved on from partygate. Read Katie’s full piece here.

Labour should perform well in the local elections next month: as well heading into the vote with allegations of a Tory Prime Minister partying the pandemic away while the rest of us obediently stayed at home, the Conservatives are also presiding over the greatest fall in living standards in generations. National Insurance contributions rise today, while the energy price cap and council tax across the country has also gone up this month. Our exclusive polling found last week that 75% of UK adults believe the government is not doing enough to tackle the cost-of-living crisis amid spiralling energy bills and rising food prices. An estimated 1.3 million people, including 500,000 children, are expected to be pushed into poverty over the next few months. If ever there was a moment for people to express their anger at the ballot box, surely it is now.

The outcome will be important for Starmer’s leadership. As ever, local elections provide a health check on Labour’s chances in a future general election – albeit with the important caveats that the turnout for local elections is lower and different, they attract older voters and ultra-local issues are more likely to dominate. A poor set of local election results has the potential to rock the leadership, while a strong showing will vindicate Starmer’s approach. Labour has put the cost of living at the centre of its campaign, and the Labour leader is telling voters to send the Tories a message on the cost of living that “they cannot ignore”. Let’s see if they do. Sign up to LabourList’s morning email for everything Labour, every weekday morning.