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Prime Minister Boris Johnson with election winner Jill Mortimer in Hartlepool: Labor replaced after decades
Photo: Scott Heppell / AP
Hartlepool and Labor have belonged together for decades.
For 57 years, the Labor Party provided MPs from the constituency on England's north-east coast.
But now Boris Johnson's Tories have won the election in the city of 90,000.
They last succeeded in doing this in 1959.
The result is not surprising.
Labor leader Keir Starmer had foreseen that it would be difficult.
But the result was even clearer than expected - and even more bitter than feared for Labor: the conservative candidate Jill Mortimer prevailed with an absolute majority, the new Labor candidate received less than a third of the votes.
Because of the resignation of the mayor, the election had been scheduled together with other local elections.
The victory in Hartlepool means much more than just an additional lower house mandate for the Conservatives in Westminster: The party is celebrating ever more successes in traditional Labor territory.
In doing so, she continues what Johnson initiated with his huge victory in the 2019 general election.
The results of the council selections confirm the trend from Hartlepool across England: As things stand, the Conservatives can take over several Labor-led city administrations across the country.
Labor remained the strongest force in some places, but was unable to gain any new cities - and lost all in all.
Successes especially in Brexit strongholds
With every additional constituency won by the Labor Tories, it becomes clear how little the voters seem to hold against the ruling conservatives for the recent scandals:
Months of pandemic mismanagement
A consultant affair involving Johnson's confidante Dominic Cummings
Possibly misappropriated donations for renovation work in the premier's apartment and for looking after his son Wilfred
Quarrels with French fishermen in British waters on election day - a consequence of the immature Brexit pushed through by Johnson
Johnson's supporters credit him with the fact that he at least pushed through Brexit.
The current electoral successes are particularly evident where there was high support for Brexit in the 2016 referendum.
In addition, the rapid Corona vaccination has made up for a lot of annoyance among the electorate - even if, contrary to the Tory propaganda, it has nothing to do with Brexit.
The election came too early for Labor
The timing of the elections was therefore extremely convenient for the Tories, unlike Labor.
Party leader Starmer has been in office for over a year;
so far he has mainly been busy with internal party clean-up work.
His predecessor, Jeremy Corbyn, had left behind some construction sites.
Starmer himself said he was directing his leadership towards long-term goals and less towards short-term successes.
First the party has to recover, then electoral successes could be achieved - also along the »Red Wall«.
These are the areas in which Labor traditionally ruled and which Starmer's predecessor Corbyn had already lost in 2019.
In any case, Starmer received great approval from his party for his long-term course and the appeal to be patient.
»We have to understand the extent and the speed at which the transformation of our party requires.
We will stand 100 percent behind Keir Starmer and support him in implementing his program change, ”wrote Stephen Kinnock, Labor MP and Foreign Minister in Starmer's shadow cabinet.
No Tory victories in London or Scotland in prospect
In the case of the Tories, only the results in London and Scotland should cloud the euphoria about the successes in Hartlepool and elsewhere.
In the capital, Labor incumbent Sadiq Khan will probably be re-elected on Saturday - his Tory rivals were given almost no chances in advance.
And in Scotland incumbent Nicola Sturgeon can hope for an absolute majority with her Scottish National Party (SNP).
The election is considered a yardstick for the support for Sturgeon's independence course among Scots.
If they are re-elected, Sturgeon has promised their compatriots another referendum on separation from the United Kingdom.
The results of the Scotland elections are expected on Friday evening, and the final composition of Parliament in Edinburgh should be known by Saturday at the latest. So far, one thing is certain: voter turnout reached a record level, in several polling stations it exceeded that of the first independence referendum in 2014.