Keir Starmer 'confident' Labour will win majority at general election
Robert Peston analyses what the latest round of general election results means for the Labour party
Words by Lewis Denison, ITV News Westminster Producer
Sir Keir Starmer is confident Labour will win a majority at the next general election, the party leader has told ITV News.
The man who believes he will replace Rishi Sunak as prime minister claimed Labour's success at the local elections in many of England's battleground constituencies shows the party's direction of travel.
"I'm confident that we can form a government with a majority," he told ITV News Political Editor Robert Peston. "And that's because of the numbers and the places that we have been winning.
"We haven't won in Medway since 1998, Dover, since 1995. Places like Swindon, Plymouth, Stoke, Middlesbrough, these are all the battlegrounds going into the next general election, so I'm confident."
The Labour leader's claim puts him at odds with ITV News Elections Analyst Colin Rallings and other commentators who think the local elections have put him on course to win the general election but not with a clear majority.
Keir Starmer on whether he is popular enough to be PM
England's local elections saw the Conservatives lose over 1,000 seats, with Labour gaining over 500 and the Liberal Democrats achieving a swing of more than 400.
But critics of Sir Keir insist the hemorrhaging of Tory council seats was not down to a swell in Labour's popularity but a response to Conservatives' poor performance nationally.
The Labour leader rubbished that suggestion, telling ITV News he shrugs when hearing questions about his popularity.
"Those challenges come from time to time, but every time they come I shrug them off. We go into another set of elections. We improve on our position, we make progress," he said.
"And that's why I'm confident that we're on course for Labour majority because we're making that progress."
Can voters trust Keir Starmer?
Sir Keir denied there is a trust issue surrounding him after scrapping a number of pledges made during his campaign to replace Jeremy Corbyn as leader, such as the recent move to abandon a plan to abolish university tuition fees.
"There are some issues where it's obvious that the damage that has been done to our economy means that we've got to make tough choices," he said, adding that his current polices are "not very different" to what he campaigned on in 2019-20.
Asked why he was no longer promising tax rises for the wealthy, he said: "There are tough choices with taxes at an all time high.
"I'm absolutely convinced that the way to ensure we get a better public services more opportunities across the country is to have a strong and thriving economy, something we haven't had for 13 years."
Labour would not repeal controversial protest law which resulted in wrongful arrests
Sir Keir, who attended the King's coronation on Saturday along with a range of political rivals, did not take his chance to criticise a law which was brought in to help police deal with disruptive protesters.
Six people were arrested under the new Public Order Act, which deals with people seeking to 'lock on' to hardware during protests, however they were released without charge.
The Metropolitan Police has said it regrets arresting the anti-monarchy protesters and London Mayor Sadiq Khan has asked for an urgent review into what went wrong, but Sir Keir appeared to defend the law.
"There's a balance to have which is to protect free and peaceful protest. Operational decisions were made over the weekend. Some were right, some were wrong.
"The police themselves have accepted that a number of them were wrong. That needs to be a learning experience. Legislation needs time to bed down."
Asked if Labour would repeal the legislation, he said: "We need to let it bed in and we need to look at how it operates in practice.
"Very often with public order legislation there is a period of bedding in - just because the police got the power doesn't mean they have to use it in every situation. Guidance emerges. So we haven’t even got to that stage yet, I think we need to get to that stage."
What's going on with partygate investigator Sue Gray?
Many questions now facing Sir Keir focus on what he would do in government, given the polls predict he will form one next year, but for Labour it is still not clear who will be chief of staff if and when they get to Number 10.
The party has tried to hire Sue Gray, the former civil servant who gained fame as the Partygate investigator who found evidence which eventually saw dozens of Downing Street staff fined, including the then-PM Boris Johnson.
But there are claims she broke the civil service code by talking to Labour about the chief of staff job while still employed by the government and concerns have been raised about a conflict of interest.
Civil servants of her seniority are required to wait a minimum of three months before taking up outside employment but the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (Acoba), which is reviewing the terms of Ms Gray's new job offer could recommend a wait of up to two years.
Asked if she'd broken the rules, Sir Keir said: "I'm confident she hasn’t."
He added: "If the government has learned one thing it would be that it would be better to focus on the cost of living than on Sue Gray if you want to connect with people across the country.
"Around people's tables, they’re not talking about Sue Gray they’re worrying about how they can pay their bills - that's what I'm concerned with - that's what I'm focused on. And the results last week and as local elections show that that's the point of connection."