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The Labour Party today blamed the coronavirus pandemic for restricting the opportunities for its politicians to campaign across Britain after the Conservatives racked up a string of stunning poll victories in the local elections.
The post-mortem deepened for Sir Keir Starmer s party today with results now in from 84 of 143 English councils. The Tories recorded a net gain of seven authorities and 173 seats, while Labour had a net loss of four and 164.
Labour was thrashed in the Hartlepool by-election, with Jill Mortimer securing a majority of almost 7,000, while Tory Ben Houchen won a second term as mayor of Tees Valley with a whopping 73 per cent share of the vote.
Just five new Covid deaths are recorded as cases rise 7.3 per cent to 2,047 - while number of people who have had second jab soars past 17m
The Department of Health announced there were 2,047 positive tests across the country today up 7.3 per cent
Lab-confirmed deaths within 28 days of a positive Covid swab fell by 28.2 per cent to just five this Saturday
Nearly 35.2million Britons have been given at least one dose of Covid vaccine after 119,349 were dished out
Another Scottish independence referendum is the âwill of the countryâ, first minister Nicola Sturgeon has insisted, despite her SNP failing to win an overall majority at Holyrood.
The SNP won a total of 64 seats in the Scottish Parliament â one more than in 2016, but one short of the total needed for a majority.
But with the Scottish Greens having their best ever Holyrood performance, returning eight MSPs, the Parliament now has 72 MSPs who support a second independence vote.
However former first minister Alex Salmondâs Alba Party â which had been campaigning for an independence âsupermajorityâ â failed to get any MSPs elected.