WE'RE DOOMED! 'LAME DUCK' PM LOSES TORY STRONGHOLD

Party in panic as Labour snatches top Mayor job

- David Williamson

RISHI Sunak's election woes deepened last night after he suffered a humiliating defeat in a key Tory stronghold.

Labour stunned the PM by toppling popular West Midlands Mayor Andy Street in a devastating blow to his hopes of clinging to power.

The shock defeat came after voters ousted hundreds of Tory councillors across the country.

The setback after a tense recount snatched away Mr Sunak's last remaining hope of ending a damaging day on a high.

One senior Tory said: "If we can't win here, with an extremely popular mayor who has championed the region for eight years, then we're doomed. Rishi must take a lot of the blame for what's happened. He's a lame duck and it looks like we'll all be limping on to defeat at the general election now."

A Tory opponent of Mr Sunak said the loss in the West Midlands is a "sure harbinger of coming electoral doom".

The defeat of Mr Street in the knife-edge contest will push morale in Conservative ranks to a new low and strengthen Labour ambitions for a landslide.

There were strong hopes that Mr Street would repeat the success of Tees Valley Tory mayor Ben Houchen and hang onto power.

But Labour's Richard Parker defeated Mr Street in one of the biggest disappointments for Conservatives in a bleak set of local elections.

Plotters who had hoped to oust the PM do not expect MPs to try to remove him before the general election.

A former minister said: "I think they are paralysed with fear."

The Prime Minister told the Sunday Express: "It's been disappointing of course to lose dedicated Conservative councillors and Andy Street in the West Midlands, with his track record of providing great public services and attracting significant investment to the area, but that has redoubled my resolve to continue to make progress on our plan. So we will continue working as hard as ever to take the fight to Labour and deliver a brighter future for our country."