Labour lost key London councils because voters think they’re RACIST after anti-Semitism row, defeated Jewish candidate warns
LABOUR lost in Jewish areas of London last night because the party is seen as "racist" and "hostile" towards them, a councillor who lost his seat has stormed.
The party was severely damaged by the ongoing row over anti-Semitism, which led to the Tories taking control of Barnet.
Jeremy Corbyn's party played up the possibility of historic wins in Wandsworth, Westminster and Barnet in recent weeks, but they haven't gained any of them.
One councillor who failed to win back his seat in Hendon, also in North London, said: "We must NEVER have another election like this."
Adam Langleben told the BBC that people "could not vote for a Labour party that they see as hostile or dangerous to the Jewish Community.
"The Labour party is seen by far too many people as being racist right now."
He told the Guardian: "Every Jewish Labour household we visited, people said, ‘not this time.’ Activists were being told, this is an anti-Semitic party, doors were slammed."
Labour has made some small gains in the capital overnight, but haven't done nearly as well as they'd hoped or as key figures predicted.
Visiting Barnet in north London this morning, Prime Minister Theresa May said: "I think people of all faiths have rejected the vile anti-Semitism that has gone unchallenged in the Labour Party for too long."
Barry Rawlings, Labour group leader in the Barnet said the ongoing anti-Semitism row had definitely had an effect on their vote.
He said this morning: "I must say that in some wards where there is a large Jewish community, it (the anti-Semitism issue) has made a difference, I'm not sure yet how much."
"Voters with a higher proportion of Jewish voters were moving away from us. We can't get away from the fact that if the anti-semitism had been dealt with a few years ago when it should have been, the people of Barnet would be waking up to a Labour council today.
"I feel desperately sorry we had a lot of good candidates who didn't win.
"I do feel the NEC as a whole should have dealt with this earlier when it came up.
"Obviously Jeremy Corbyn has a responsibility as the leader.
"It will be a long road back to regaining that trust."
Labour MP John Mann added: "Those who called anti-Semitism a smear cost Labour badly last night. A Jewish member for more than 60 years told me on the doorstep he couldn’t vote Labour in Barnet yesterday."
And Mike Freer, MP for Finchley and Golders Green said: "It is true to say that the anger from the Jewish community toward the Labour Party was palpable on the doorsteps."
Deputy Leader Tom Watson admitted: "There is no doubt Jewish community has sent us a message" and Sadiq Khan said: "There are lots of Jewish people in London, who don't feel comfortable voting Labour."
Labour's Shadow Communities Secretary and campaigns chief, Andrew Gwynne, said the news "disappoints me" and insisted the party had "a job to do to rebuild trust with the Jewish community."
Labour MP Wes Streeting replied to defeated Mr Langleben on Twitter, saying: "I am so so sorry. This defeat wasn't yours."
And Stephen Pollard, editor of the Jewish Chronicle, said: "Crucial point about Barnet is its not just Jewish Labour voters who have been disgusted by the party's handling of its antisemites - it's non Jews too."
Conservative chairman Brandon Lewis said voters were being turned off by "hard abuse from some of the hard left, that anti-Semitism problem that Labour clearly have got and are just not dealing with".
Last year London Mayor Sadiq Khan has previously said there was "no corner" of the city that the party couldn't win, and that they had their sights set on challenging the Tories "even in their crown jewels of Wandsworth and Barnet".
But the results showed a very different picture.
A Tory source said this morning: "Labour are failing in target seats across the country."
Elections expert Sir John Curtice added: "The truth is there isn't really much for the Labour party to celebrate this morning."
And he added that Labour had come away "empty handed" from today's elections.
A Labour shadow minister told The Sun: “Jeremy has not spent the 11 months since the General Election winning Middle England, and now never will. We’re not going to do as well as we should, and I suspect these results will show we are past peak Corbyn.”
On a night of mixed fortunes for both main parties:
- Labour lost out on the key London targets of Wandsworth, Barnet and Westminster
- Tories made gains in smaller cities and towns including Derby and Basildon
- Mr Corbyn's party beat the Conservatives in Plymouth and Trafford
- The Lib Dems made gains in London and elsewhere
- Ukip were almost entirely wiped out across the country
Click here for full results of Local Elections 2018
The Tories held on to Labour target Swindon, and took control in Peterborough and Basildon.
Meanwhile, Labour suffered a significant blow by losing overall control of Derby, Nuneaton and Bedworth.
There was a setback for Theresa May's Conservatives after they lost grip on Trafford - a key council held by the Tories since 2004 - with it now under no overall control.
And Labour stunned by winning Plymouth from the Tories - with Corbyn visited to deliver a "victory speech".
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