Thursday’s local elections are a chance for Keir Starmer to show his party’s breadth of support – not least in the embattled PM’s North Yorkshire
It’s looking pretty positive for Labour’s David Skaith as he campaigns up and down quiet residential streets in York, a stone’s throw from the city’s ancient walls. “I would rather poke my eyes out with a sharp stick than vote Tory,” says Sandra Barton, a former city council worker, as she emerges from her terrace house to signal support.
Skaith, who runs a clothes shop in the city, is Labour’s candidate in Thursday’s election for the post of the first-ever elected mayor of York and North Yorkshire.