LABOUR’S humiliating defeat at the Hartlepool by-election has been deemed a ‘devastating blow’ by Slough’s MP Tan Dhesi.

The Conservatives gained momentum in this year’s elections where Hartlepool locals voted in a Tory MP for the first time since the constituency’s formation in 1974.

Tory candidate Jill Mortimer defeated Labour rival Paul Williams by nearly 7,000 votes, while the Conservatives also took ground from Labour in the English local elections.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said he was “bitterly disappointed” by the results, adding the party had “not made a strong enough case to the country”.

Slough Observer: Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer leaving his north London home following the result in the Hartlepool parliamentary by-election. Picture date: Friday May 7 (PA)Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer leaving his north London home following the result in the Hartlepool parliamentary by-election. Picture date: Friday May 7 (PA)

READ MORE: Slough Labour reacts to 2021 local election victory

Reacting to Labour’s defeat in Hartlepool, Tan Dhesi said: “Losing Hartlepool was a devastating blow that is something we, as a party, have got to listen, learn, and collectively formulate the policy platform which can help to win in future local elections – but also in the run-up to the general election.

“I think within that difficult election, it was, I think, an election dominated by Covid and the governments of the day benefited from that Covid bounce, so the vaccine bounce.

He added: “I think there is also regional disparities, so in certain areas where there were large Brexit voting areas, we haven’t done as well so we have to work doubly hard to regain the trust of those constituents in those constituencies.

“But in other areas which were predominantly more remain or other constituencies, we fared better.

READ MORE: Slough Borough Council 2021 election results in full

“What we got to do is to move on from the old Brexit debate and we’ve got to make sure that we are a party ready for government that we are talking about the issues that matter to the British people, talking about jobs, the economy, things that bring us closer together and to be living in a country we are all proud.

“We’ve got a very bright future as a nation, but we’ve got to make sure that if they elect a Labour government that we will have a fairer, more equal society where no one is left behind.”

While it might have been a grim picture for Labour in Hartlepool and in other local authorities, Slough, on the other hand, retained and gained in most of the borough’s wards with 11 councillors out 14 voted in.