No more no-go areas for Labour, says Reeves as party surges in ‘grey wall’

Rachel Reeves will claim on Tuesday that there are “no more no-go areas” for Labour after analysis showed the party had surged in “grey wall” seats with large numbers of pensioner voters at the local elections.

The shadow chancellor will use a speech in the City of London to argue that Labour’s local election victories on Thursday showed it is able to appeal to all types of voters.

Labour officials have analysed voting data and believe the party did better than the average in “grey wall” council wards.

The analysis found support increased one per cent across the country compared to last year but two per cent in wards with an above average number of pensioners, with older Britons are traditionally the bedrock of the Conservative support base.

Areas such as Nuneaton in the West Midlands, Thurrock in Essex and East Worthing and Shoreham, on the south coast, saw sizeable swings to Labour, according to the analysis.

However, the vote increases are relatively small as a percentage. One independent analysis of the local elections found that Labour had yet to do enough to secure a House of Commons majority and said the next general election could result in a hung Parliament.

But Ms Reeves will say: “The results show that there are no more no-go areas for the Labour Party. And it’s not just about where you live, but who you are.

“Because if you are a young person starting out in life, at work and starting a family, or planning for or in retirement, the Labour Party is the party for you. We are the change. And we will continue to work to earn your trust.”

Sir Keir Starmer, the Labour leader,  is understood to believe that the “changed Labour Party” is winning back voters across the spectrum.

Pat McFadden, Labour’s national campaign coordinator and a veteran of the New Labour years, told The Guardian: “The story of parts of the Blue Wall [traditional Tory heartland seats in the south of England] turning red is under-noticed.”

Ms Reeves will also accuse the Conservatives of “gaslighting” the country – a term to describe manipulating someone into questioning their own perception of reality – by arguing that the economy has turned a corner.

Labour aides believe that Rishi Sunak will this week attempt to use a series of economic updates to support his claims that he is turning the economy around, and Ms Reeves’s speech is a pre-emptive attempt to counter him.

Friday’s economic growth figures are expected to confirm that the UK is out of recession. On Thursday, the Bank of England could also signal that an interest rate cut is coming later this year.

Tory election strategists are hoping that the improving economy could see voters give them some credit at the general election. As The Telegraph revealed on Monday, Downing Street insiders have shelved the idea of a summer election, with the economy likely to be in a better place in the autumn.

Tories ‘gaslighting the British public’

But Ms Reeves will say: “During the local elections, I travelled across the country. I spoke to hundreds of people. I listened to their stories.

“And when they hear Government ministers telling them that they have never had it so good, that they should look out for the ‘feelgood factor’, all they hear is a Government that is deluded and completely out of touch with the realities on the ground. The Conservatives are gaslighting the British public.”

Richard Holden, the Conservative Party chairman, said: “The personnel may change but the Labour Party hasn’t. Rachel Reeves still hero-worships Gordon Brown, who sold off our gold reserves and whose hubris took Britain to the brink of financial collapse.

“Labour have no plan and would take us back to square one with higher taxes, higher unemployment, an illegal amnesty on immigration and a plot to betray pensioners, just like Gordon Brown did.”