Labour is not gaining the seats that it would need to form a government at the next general election, a minister has said.
Transport minister Richard Holden told the BBC’s Elections 2023 programme: “The truth is the seats that we need to win at a general election right across the country, you are just not seeing those Labour gains that they would need to do in order to form a government at the next general election at this stage.”
Asked about the latest projections, Mr Holden said people have had a “tough time” with the cost of living, adding: “The Government has had to put a huge package in there, but people are still feeling it.
“I feel it when I do my weekly shop as much as… and other people will feel it even more actually, particularly if they are on tight budgets.
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“You are going to have to look in different areas and if Labour are going to win in the next general election they are going to have to take some towns in Essex, they are going to have to take Peterborough as well.”
On whether the Conservatives are going to change strategy if the local elections go badly, the transport minister said the Prime Minister set out his “five key priorities” and “what people want to see is him delivering on them”.
However, Rishi Sunak’s Tories are braced for heavy losses, with Labour and the Liberal Democrats both making gains in elections across England.
The contests were the first to be fought under new rules requiring voters to carry photographic ID, and the elections watchdog said “regrettably” some people were turned away from polling stations as a result.
