Labour’s Emma Reynolds was shut down on GB News for “using the Boris Johnson excuse” to explain Sir Keir Starmer’s decision not to visit Runcorn and Helsby to support his party’s by-election campaign.
The Economic Secretary to the Treasury said Starmer has been “too busy” to visit the constituency for the first by-election of his premiership.
GB News’s Deputy Political Editor Tom Harwood put it to Reynolds that prime minister’s typically attend the occasion.
Precarious situations globally forced the prime minister to focus his attention elsewhere, Reynolds said during the lively exchange.
Tom Harwood questioned Emma Reynolds about Keir Starmer's Runcorn and Helsby no-show
GB NEWS / PA
Tom said: “Many Labour MPs did campaign very hard - among them was not the leader of the Labour Party who did not find time to make a single trip to the constituency.
“He went on holiday for some of the campaign period and travelled all over the country, to Wales and the North East, but not Runcorn.”
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Reynolds said: “It’s quite normal that prime ministers don’t visit by-elections and there has been quite a lot happening in the world.
“He has been working with President Trump’s new administration and busy with the ongoing war on our continent.”
Tom interjected to brand Reynolds’s remark the “Boris Johnson excuse”, because the former prime minister became renowned for speaking about Ukraine during tough times.
“The point I was making is - the prime minister is very busy and he has a wide set of responsibilities”, she continued.
Emma Reynolds spoke to Tom Harwood on GB News about the Runcorn by-election
GB NEWS
“We are in the morning and we will see what the Runcorn and Helsby by-election result is soon.
“We will be able to speculate more when the result comes out.”
The elections marked a significant moment for all major parties, with particular attention on Conservative performance under leader Kemi Badenoch.
Millions of voters participated in what political experts described as a crucial barometer of public opinion since last year's general election.
Of the 23 local authorities holding elections, 14 were county councils including Cambridgeshire, Derbyshire, Devon, Gloucestershire, Hertfordshire, Kent, Lancashire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire and Worcestershire.
Eight unitary authorities also went to the polls: Buckinghamshire, Cornwall, Durham, North Northamptonshire, Northumberland, Shropshire, West Northamptonshire and Wiltshire.
Doncaster Metropolitan Council was the sole metropolitan council with seats contested.
The six mayoral races included contests in the West of England, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, North Tyneside, Doncaster, Greater Lincolnshire, and Hull and East Yorkshire.
Every seat on all 23 authorities was up for grabs, though boundary changes meant some areas elected fewer councillors than before.
In a final message to voters before polls opened, Labour chairwoman Ellie
Reeves insisted the Government's plan was "already starting to deliver".
"As voters head to the polls today, there's a clear choice between Labour with a plan for change to deliver the security working people deserve and renewal for our country, or more of the same chaos voters rejected last year with the Tories and Reform," she said.
Labour sought to frame the contest as a test for Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch rather than Sir Keir Starmer.
