Voters are punishing Labour for its Brexit ‘fudge’, angry MPs warn Corbyn after shock election losses

Voters are punishing Labour for its Brexit “fudge”, angry MPs have warned Jeremy Corbyn, after the party was the shock loser from the local elections – urging him to finally guarantee a fresh referendum. A disastrous night for both big parties saw the Conservatives lose more than 1,200 seats and fresh calls for Theresa May to quit, including from a Tory heckler in Wales, who demanded to know: “Why don’t you go?” As the Liberal Democrats and independent candidates surged, little more than half of the public backed the Conservatives or Labour – who were tied on just 28 per cent of votes each. But pro-EU Labour MPs seized on the evidence that their party – even in Leave areas – had lost out to parties demanding a Final Say public vote, as the Greens as well as the Lib Dems were rewarded. Between them, the two Remain parties claimed more than 850 seats, enjoying big swings from Labour in places including St Helens (18.8 per cent), Barnsley (17.3 per cent), Sunderland (13.4 per cent), Peterborough (6.9 per cent) and Derby (6.2 per cent), an analysis by the People’s Vote campaign found.