01:24
Hartlepool has yet to come out, but there is already evidence that Sir Keir Starmer’s Labor critics argue that his leadership strategy is to blame. This is what the left wing MP from Brighton Kempton said, Lloyd Russell-Moylehe tweeted shortly after midnight.
Lloyd Russell-Moyle MP🌹🏳️🌈
(@lloyd_rm)It’s good to see a worthless flag waving and wearing a suit working so well … or is it?
01:14
Elections show ‘Labor hasn’t changed enough yet,’ says party source
According to statements from a Labor source informed to journalists, the message Sir Keir Starmer is taking from Hartlepool, and the elections in general, is that the party has not changed enough. The source said:
We have said that the entire Northeast and the Midlands would be difficult. We also said that the places to declare on Thursday would be particularly difficult.
But, the message from the voters is clear and we have heard it. The Labor Party has not yet changed enough for voters to place their trust in us.
We understand that. We are listening. And now we will redouble our efforts.
Labor must now accelerate the program of change in our party, to regain the trust and faith of the workers throughout Britain.
People don’t want to hear excuses. Keir has said that he will take responsibility for these results, and take responsibility for fixing it and improving the Labor Party.
00:55
Good morning. We were hoping that the result of Hartlepool byelection would have been announced before the live blog launch this morning, but it has taken longer than expected and we are now in time for the statement.
Like my colleague Josh halliday reports, Labor has already been admitted defeat to all.
This will be the first dramatic result of yesterday’s “Super Thursday” elections, which constitute the largest electoral event outside of general elections in modern British political history. We will cover the results here as they arrive today and throughout the weekend.
Here is my colleague Peter walkerGuide of what to expect.
And here’s The Guardian’s results tracker.
We also expect a Downing Street press conference around 5pm this afternoon. It will try to ease the Covid travel restrictions, but of course the election results will appear.
I try to monitor comments below the line (BTL) but it is impossible to read all of them. If you have a direct question, put “Andrew” somewhere and you’re more likely to find it. I try to answer questions and if they are of general interest I will post the question and answer it above the line (ATL), although I cannot promise to do this for everyone.
If you want to get my attention quickly, it’s probably best to use Twitter. I’m in @ AndrewGorrión.
www.theguardian.com