Politics Home | Sadiq Khan Says Labour Faces “Existential” Crisis And Warns Greens Are The Biggest Threat

Labour has suffered heavy losses in London (Alamy)

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With results still rolling in on Friday evening, Labour has suffered a day of heavy losses across the country, losing voters to both the left and right. Labour has also lost power in Wales – where it has formed the government ever since devolved institutions were set up at the turn of the century.

Reflecting on the results, Khan said that while mid-term elections can often be difficult for the government of the day, what Labour was seeing on Friday “is different”.

“These results speak to a far-reaching disillusionment and fracturing in our politics, which cannot be downplayed, spun or dismissed.”

The Mayor of London, whose relationship with the Labour government has reportedly become increasingly fractured, warned on Friday that the party’s election results in London were “bitterly disappointing”.

A YouGov MRP last month predicted that Labour’s control of London councils would fall from 21 to 15 at the elections, with the party losing six councils.

With results across the capital still being declared, Labour’s losses have already exceeded that prediction.

At the time of writing, results for 23 of the 32 London councils have been declared, with Labour set to lose control of Barnet, Brent, Enfield, Ealing, Hackney, Waltham Forest, Wandsworth, Westminster and Southwark.

Khan said that the results would have a bruising effect on the capital: “Labour is only able to deliver when we win elections, whether that be general, mayoral or local. Losing control of councils in London will limit our ability to serve the public in the way we want.”

London Labour MPs have become increasingly concerned in recent months about the loss of councils in the capital, with PoliticsHome reporting on nervousness in City Hall last year about this set of elections.

The losses in London will also hit right at the heart of government, with four members of the cabinet serving as MPs in the capital, including Health Secretary Wes Streeting and Prime Minister Keir Starmer himself.

While the focus had been on the threat to Labour from Reform UK and the independent vote, the Greens have emerged as the biggest insurgent party in London.

Khan said: “Labour has lost votes in London to a variety of different parties, but the biggest change has been Labour voters switching to the Greens.”

Speaking about the country as a whole, Khan said that many people who had voted Labour in 2024 “clearly feel angry, disappointed and let down”.

“They want a Labour government to address the cost-of-living crisis while demonstrating the core values the party was established to promote,” he continued.

But Khan said that instead, “too many of the government’s achievements have been overshadowed by basic mistakes and a failure to boldly assert our progressive values.”

On London specifically, Khan said those in the capital “are also frustrated with the slow pace of change and are impatient to see the delivery they were promised”.

“London has been taken for granted for too long,” he continued.

“This must change. Without a change in course and an acceleration in delivery, the threat to Labour is existential. We risk a repeat in London, Wales and across England of what happened in Scotland, where we have still not recovered.”

“Labour is the only party capable of delivering the change our capital city and country needs, and the only party that can unite progressives and close the door to the darkness and division of Reform.  It’s time for us to be bold and show this to be true, before it’s too late.”