Keir Starmer has mocked Rishi Sunak for overseeing the Conservatives’ local election nightmare.
The Labour leader said the prime minister had “cost a thousand Tory councillors their jobs” following the town hall drubbing.
Starmer also accused the PM of having “no mandate” after he also lost the Tory leadership election to Liz Truss last summer.
The final local election results yesterday revealed the Conservatives had lost 1,063 seats, while Labour gained more than 500.
“The prime minister said he was going to lose a thousand seats and then he managed it,” the Labour boss said. “After 13 years, a Tory promise they actually haven’t broken.
“And this is the prime minister who has only had to fight for two things in his life.
“Last year he lost a Tory beauty contest to [Liz Truss] who then lost to a lettuce. Last week, when he finally came into contact with voters, he lost everywhere.
“No matter who the electorate is, the prime minister keeps entering a two-horse race and somehow finishing third.
“Given his track record, who does he think he’s actually got a mandate from?”
Sunak hit back by accusing Starmer of ditching the promises he made in the Labour leadership election three years ago.
He said: “It’s a bit rich to hear about mandates from the person who has broken every single promise he was elected on.
“I can go through the list: nationalisations, NHS outsourcing, universal credit, and now tuition fees. He was for them before he was against them. He’s not just Sir Softie, he’s Sir Flakey too.”