Local elections were painful but we CAN still win the fight, vows Work and Pensions Secretary Mel Stride

LOCAL elections were painful but the Tories can still win a showdown general election, Mel Stride insisted today.

The Work and Pensions Secretary admitted the Tories suffered “very painful” losses in hundreds of council ballots across the country.

AlamyWork and Pensions Secretary Mel Stride today insisted his party can still win at a general election this year, despite being thrashed at the locals[/caption]

But he argued “a week is a long time in politics” and Rishi Sunak is ready to seize on a “volatile” electorate and battle for his political career come a general election.

Mr Stride told Times Radio: “I actually think that all possibilities are open.

“A week is a long time in politics and we have some months now before a general election.”

He added: “I think a general election is an entirely different contest in a different poll with what is a very volatile electorate.

“And I’m also not convinced that people are entirely convinced of Keir Starmer and the Labour Party perhaps as they might have been of Tony Blair pre-1997.

“But look overall I’m not going to put a gloss on what happened in those local elections and I certainly would not be saying they weren’t that bad. They were very difficult for us.”

Last week the Tories took a thrashing at the local elections, losing 470 council seats and suffering their worst results in 40 years.

Labour’s Sadiq Khan thrashed Tory opponent Susan Hall to become mayor of London for the third time, winning 44 per cent of the vote.

In the West Midlands Andy Street lost the race to be re-elected mayor by about just 1,000 votes out of a total population of around three million.

The Tories now have fewer councillors than the Lib Dems for the first time in 30 years.

And a new Opinium poll puts Labour 16 points ahead of the party of government.

Over the weekend Rishi Sunak doubled down on his claim Britain is heading towards disaster with a hung Parliament.

The PM said local election results showed Sir Keir will not win a majority and will have to do deals with the SNP, Lib Dems and Greens.

The claim was dismissed by some polling experts, but Mr Sunak warned: “Keir Starmer propped up in Downing Street by the SNP, Liberal Democrats and the Greens would be a disaster for Britain.

“The country doesn’t need more political horse-trading, but action.”