Jeremy Corbyn yesterday set his sights on seizing control of Tory “crown jewels” at the May local elections — some of which have been Conservative-held for more than 50 years.
The Labour leader wants to take Westminster and Kensington & Chelsea for the first time, as well as Wandsworth council and Barnet, which is currently under no overall control.
Launching the party’s campaign for the elections on May 3 in central London yesterday, Corbyn attacked Kensington & Chelsea’s performance, which was branded “unacceptable” by the government in the wake of the Grenfell fire. He vowed to bring privatised services in Barnet back in-house, claiming Tory reforms have made workers “worse off”
He also pledged to make Wandsworth and Westminster “living wage” boroughs to give residents “decent pay”.
Westminster and Kensingston & Chelsea councils have been Conservative held since they were formed in 1964. Wandsworth Council was last held by Labour in 1974 and Barnet is on a knife-edge after the Tories lost their majority when a councillor defected to become an independent.
However Corbyn’s election launch comes in the midst of a bitter party row over the way he and Labour have handled allegations of anti-Semitism, expected to impact heavily on Jewish voters.
Around 20% of the UK Jewish population live in Barnet and Labour activists there have told the Standard they are having to work even harder to maintain their current base.
Corbyn has also been criticised over his response to Russian involvement in the Salisbury nerve agent attacks, with Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson describing him as “the Kremlin’s useful idiot”.
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, who joined the Labour leader at the campaign launch yesterday, said the party would invest in local communities and services.
He said the Conservative Party only offers “more cuts, more austerity and more social vandalism”.