LABOUR could lose crucial Red Wall battleground Hartlepool on Thursday, the party’s shadow foreign secretary admits.
Lisa Nandy said “anything is possible” in the by-election and let slip it would be “difficult” for Sir Keir Starmer to make inroads.
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She told TimesRadio that despite some polls showing the Tory lead narrowing, it was still all to play for.
Asked if Labour could lose the by-election in Hartlepool, which the Tories have never won, and the West Midlands and Tees Valley mayoral races, she replied: “Well look, anything is possible.
“We’re going to go out and fight for every single vote.
“We’re not going to take anybody for granted. We always expected these elections would be difficult for us.”
Both sides were playing down expectations ahead of Thursday’s local votes — where thousands of council seats are up for grabs.
Voters will also elect a handful of regional mayors, and Members of the Scottish and Welsh Parliaments.
Tories say they expect to lose more than 1,000 seats due to a “post-Corbyn bounce”, urging every supporter to get out and vote.
Tory elections chief Amanda Milling warned: “We are likely to lose a significant number of seats this time round, but are fighting tooth and nail across the country.”
The Conservatives fell two points to 42 per cent, according to a fresh Opinium survey yesterday.
Labour are up four percentage points in a week to 37.
Separate research from Focaldata showed Labour is narrowly ahead in the 43 red wall seats the Tories won in the December 2019 Election.
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