Dominic Raab says Tory election results a ‘mixed bag’ despite losing nearly 500 seats

Dominic Raab has admitted the Tory party had a “mixed bag of results” following the local elections.

With the party losing nearly 500 seats across the country, Mr Raab said Tories has suffered “a difficult set of results”.

Speaking to Sky News’ Sophie Ridge, he said: “They’re challenging for any Government mid-term.”

When challenged by the host, Mr Raab said: “If you look at Keir Starmer’s results, he did worse than Ed Miliband in 2012 and had no cut through beyond London.

“We’ve had a mixed bag of results, there’s no sugar coating it.”

He concluded that although it had “been a difficult set of results”, he insisted Labour had struggled to make significant progress.

Mr Raab also accused Sir Keir of hypocrisy after Durham Police announced they would investigate a gathering held during the Harltepool by-election campaign last year.

Mr Raab’s comments come after the Tory party suffered large losses following Thursday’s local elections.

In England, the party lost 342 seats, including previous strongholds of Wandsworth, Barnet and Westminster.

North of the border, the party lost a further 63 seats while in Wales, they lost 86.

Some have claimed the backlash from partygate and the cost of living crisis had a large impact on the doorsteps.

Speaking on Saturday, however, Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi claimed the Prime Minister remains an “asset” to the party.

He also told Sky News: “He is an asset, absolutely.

“If you look at the way that Boris cuts through in places like Nuneaton, places like Newcastle-under-Lyme, other parts of the country as well – Harrow in London.”