Forget the spin. Today’s local election results are a disaster for the Conservatives.
Across the country Rishi Sunak’s party have lost major ground to both Labour and the Liberal Democrats with both opposition parties winning in the sorts of areas they have not won for decades, if ever before.
As I wrote for Byline Times this morning, the results are an indictment of the disastrous electoral strategy adopted by Sunak’s party in recent years, as well as a grim signpost for what could happen to them at the next General Election.
So is this the beginning of the end for this Conservative Government or are there signs in these results that Keir Starmer’s party could still snatch defeat from the jaws of victory?
Here’s what I think we have learnt, and where I think we are now headed.