Southern comfort as Labour wins Dover, Bracknell Forest, Gravesham

Labour notched up two major southern local election victories on Friday afternoon to take back councils not held since the 1990s, winning Bracknell Forest and Dover.

The party also gained overall control in Gravesham in north Kent, and a party source said it now expected to win another Kent council, Thanet from a minority-Conservative administration.

Nationally Labour had gained more than 300 councillors and a net 13 councils shortly before 5pm on Friday and the Conservatives were down more than 600 seats and 32 councils.

Labour took control of Dover in a significant breakthrough after making six ward gains, whereas the Conservatives lost six in a council they had held since 2007. Sky News reported it marked the first Labour return to power in the Kent council since 1995, and a “big loss” for Conservatives as their last East Kent council.

Dover marks a particularly major blow and embarrassment for the governing party, amid a ratcheting up of their efforts to clamp down on “small boats” but higher numbers of migrant crossings over the past year. The area has also been on the frontline of Brexit trade frictions in recent years.

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Meanwhile at another Kent council, Gravesham, the Labour group edged ahead of the Conservatives to take control with four gains, taking it to 22 councillors. The Conservatives lost two, falling to 17.

Hopes of Labour recovery across the south at the general election took a further boost as the party took Bracknell Forest in Berkshire from the Conservatives.

It marked a victory few predicted after Labour made enormous gains, winning 18 more seats than last time round to reach 22 councillors. They previously had just four.

The Conservatives suffered a heavy defeat, losing some 27 seats including their council leader. The Lib Dems gained seven seats and Greens two.

Bracknell CLP chair Dr Roy Bailey called results “truly sensational”, while the Election Maps UK website asked if it was the “shock of the night.”

Labour has not run the council since the 1990s when Tony Blair led the party in opposition, and Labour even lost in its 1997 landslide victory. It is far from clear Labour had even expected to win or come close this week.

Observer journalist Michael Savage noted that among the earlier results declared, the three non-Conservative parties all made gains where there was no other opposition standing. “This will get the Progressive Alliance lobby going.”