Sir Keir Starmer and Angela Rayner will launch Labour’s local election campaign with a promise to “bring change to Britain” ahead of its first major test at the ballot box since entering office.
The Prime Minister and his deputy will visit the Midlands on Thursday as the party asks people “to play their part in delivering the renewal the country needs” by backing its candidates at the polls on May 1.
Labour is focusing its opening pitch to voters on healthcare, pointing to “swift action” taken by the Government to end planned doctors’ strikes by offering an improved pay rise after entering office.
The party says the negotiation of a deal early on has helped spare disruption to hundreds of thousands of appointments, basing that claim on NHS data suggesting 507,000 cancellations occurred between July 2023 and last March during periods of industrial action under the last government.
The local polls – and a by-election in the Runcorn and Helsby seat vacated by ex-Labour MP Mike Amesbury – will be the first big electoral test for Sir Keir since last July’s general election, giving a sense of where parties stand nationally.
They come against the challenging economic backdrop of global tariffs announced by Donald Trump and a series of spending cuts made by Chancellor Rachel Reeves as she seeks to balance the country’s books.
Ballots will be held for 23 councils and six mayoralties in England.
Labour said the Prime Minister will highlight the Government’s record on the NHS, which is “just the start” of the changes planned and that by voting for Labour councillors and mayors, people could “bring change to their area”.
The party says more than two million extra appointments have been delivered since its election win, with almost 2.2 million more elective care appointments in July and November last year compared to the same period in 2023.
Speaking ahead of the campaign launch on Thursday, Health Secretary Wes Streeting said: “Half-a-million operations stopped because of strike action weren’t just an inconvenience, they meant hundreds of thousands of patients living through more pain, more stress and more disappointment.
“That’s exactly why within days of coming into office, I got round the table with resident doctors and put an end to these crippling strikes.
“It was a tough negotiation, but we came out with a fair offer, and patients immediately started seeing the benefit.”
Labour chairwoman Ellie Reeves said: “Labour is the only party with a Plan for Change. We’re finally turning the tide on 14 years of Conservative chaos and decline which badly let working people down.
“Whether it be through putting more money in people’s pockets through our boost to the minimum wage, fixing our NHS, or investing in our roads to finally end the Tory potholes plague, Labour is delivering the change working people voted for last year.
“By electing Labour councillors and Labour mayors on Thursday May 1, you can help bring change to your area – and bring change to Britain.”
