14 April 2024 , 23:01
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Campaigners have called for anti-Tory parties to work together to oust the Conservatives from key councils where they won with a minority vote share.
Research by think-tank Compass found an overwhelming majority of Tory-controlled councils up for re-election next month were won with less than 50% of the vote. Around 2,600 seats are being contested across 107 council areas on May 2, which were last up for election in 2021.
The report published today reveals the Tories won 15 of these councils with less than 50% of the vote the last time they were contested. Dubbed "tragedy councils", it means more than half of voters cast their ballots for parties other than the Conservatives, but the Tories still won all of the power.
Rishi Sunak's party is braced for a drubbing in next month's local elections (Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)On these 15 councils, which include Dudley, Redditch and Thurrock in Essex, the Conservatives won, on average, 59.9% of the seats with just 45.9% of the popular vote.
The Tories are braced for a battering at the local elections, with some pollsters suggesting the party could lose up to half of its seats. But the UK's first past the voting system could still allow the Conservatives to cling onto power in key areas.
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In a plea to rival parties to join forces to kick out Tory councillors, a Compass spokesman said: “At the local elections last year, voters went to the ballot box with one clear priority: getting the Tories out. Even though party HQs refused to openly endorse electoral pacts and cross-party working, progressive voters showed they were one step ahead.
“We must not be lulled into a false sense of security by Labour ’s lead in the polls. Our crooked voting system is particularly punishing to progressives and lifts the Tories into power on a minority share of the vote.
"At these next elections progressive candidates should stand where they are best placed to win and activists should go to their nearest marginal ward - that way we get the Tories out of councils now and send a signal that cooperation is the future of British politics.”
The 15 ‘tragedy councils’ are:
North East Lincolnshire
Thurrock
Basildon
Epping Forest
Harlow
Rushmoor
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Havant
Reigate and Banstead
Adur
Dorset
Gloucester
Walsall
Solihull
Dudley
Redditch