LABOUR leader Sir Keir Starmer came to Colchester at the weekend, laying a statement down that the party plans to fight for and earn every vote in the town.

Next month’s local elections are fast approaching, and Labour hope to get enough votes to take majority control of Colchester Council, something that has never been done before.

The party have only ever had one parliamentary seat in Colchester, when Lord Delacourt Smith took it from Oswald Smith in 1945 – 77 years ago.

With Sir Keir’s visit to the town centre now been and gone, here is what we learned from the event.

Labour feel they have a good chance to take a majority on the council

With the ‘partygate’ scandal and ongoing cost of living crisis, the party feel that this is a chance to finally create a Labour-led borough council in Colchester.

When speaking to The Gazette, Sir Keir criticised the Conservative government, and believes that the upcoming local elections are a chance for the town to send a message.

He said: “This is a very real chance for people in Colchester who are struggling, particularly with cost of living, to send a loud message - a message the government can’t ignore - about their inadequate response to the cost of living crisis.”

How the town has been affected by the cost of living crisis

During his visit, Sir Keir spoke to both businesses and residents, about how they are coping amid the cost of living reaching crisis levels.

He visited The Three Wise Monkeys, Red Lion Book Shop and Mercury Theatre, and during his High Street Walk, met some who are finding life difficult with the rises to energy bills, national insurance, food, and petrol, amongst others.

Sir Keir specifically mentioned one elderly gentleman who has had to go back to work to pay to live.

He said: “Here in Colchester, businesses have been talking to me about the impact it is having on them, just as they are getting back on their feet after Covid, but then in the street.

“I had a 76-year-old man who lives here in Colchester who said that because of the cost of living crisis and the inadequate response of the government, he’s had to go back to work three days a week, that’s the human impact of the cost of living crisis on people here in Colchester.”

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The plans for Colchester if Labour were to gain in the May elections

One of the things Sir Keir outlined was how the town would change if the council structure were to change.

He said: “Let me just pick three areas because the focus.

“We will be on dealing with anti-social behaviour, having teams out there, because anti-social behaviour affects so many lives and can blight and ruin people’s lives.

“The second thing is emergency fund for those that need it most, and again in a cost of living crisis that is crucially important.

“On top of that, there’s the question of council housing, the Labour plan is to build is to build 350 council houses desperately needed to provide safe and secure homes for people in Colchester, so there’s a very very positive Labour offer that we are taking into these local elections.”

Sir Keir met and liked the candidates standing in the upcoming elections

The Labour leader explained further that he believes that those standing, are ‘what the town needs’.

He said: “I have met our candidates this morning, an excellent group of people.

“They are from wide-range of backgrounds, young and old, with real experience but rooted here in Colchester and that is what you need from your council, people who live and breathe Colchester and will be fantastic representatives.”