The writing had been on the wall for more than a year. After 14 years of Conservative rule, the country had grown weary of political turmoil, a revolving door of Prime Ministers, the fallout from Brexit, and the government’s handling of the Covid-19 pandemic. Promises to “get Brexit done” with an “oven-ready deal” had long since worn thin for many voters.

At the ballot box, people across the country delivered a wholesale rejection of the Conservatives, hoping Labour’s landslide victory would mark the beginning of a brighter and more stable future after nearly a decade and a half in opposition.

But within weeks of taking office, those hopes began to fade. Sir Keir Starmer and his new government appeared to misread the public mood, with a series of missteps quickly damaging the sense of optimism that had swept Labour into power. What had started as a moment of opportunity soon spiralled into growing frustration, culminating in one of the worst local election performances in the party’s history.

The party’s fall from grace appeared inevitable from the very beginning. At a time when the electorate was crying out for genuine change and a decisive break from years of austerity, Labour instead offered what many voters saw as more of the same — short on bold solutions and lacking the vision needed to tackle the country’s deepening problems.

Rather than presenting a clear alternative to the Conservatives, the new government quickly found itself branded by critics as “Tory 2.0”, fuelling a growing sense of disillusionment among voters who had placed their hopes in Labour to deliver meaningful change.

The divide between local and national politics had never been more apparent. While anger towards the government continued to grow nationally, locally Salford City Council was attempting to soften the blow of decisions made in Westminster, particularly the removal of winter fuel payments that many vulnerable pensioners had relied upon to keep their homes warm and the lights on during the colder months.

For many residents, it highlighted a growing disconnect between a national government struggling to maintain public confidence and local leaders trying to shield communities from the real-life impact of those policies.

Despite attempts by Salford City Council to ease the impact of those decisions, efforts to convince residents there was a clear distinction between Labour locally and Labour nationally simply failed to resonate.

For many voters, the nuance was lost amid growing frustration and economic hardship. To them, Labour — whether in Westminster or at the town hall — had become synonymous with the problems they were facing, and that anger has now been clearly reflected at the ballot box.

Good, hard-working councillors who had spent years serving their communities ultimately lost their seats because of decisions made at the very top of the party. Many were left carrying the anger directed at Westminster to the ballot box, despite having little influence over the policies that had caused such frustration among voters.

For some, the election became less about their record locally and more about the national picture surrounding Labour, leaving dedicated councillors feeling isolated, powerless and ultimately abandoned by the leadership above them.

The final result was a political earthquake for Labour in Salford, with the party losing 14 seats to Reform UK, while the Green Party of England and Wales gained one seat and took another from the Liberal Democrats.

Among the high-profile casualties were some of the council’s biggest political heavyweights, including Jack Youd in Walkden North, Theresa Pepper in Little Hulton and Irfan Syed in Walkden South. Their defeats underlined the scale of the backlash facing Labour across the city.

Yet amid the losses, there were still a handful of bright spots for the party. Nathanial Tetteh stormed to victory with a commanding majority in Eccles, while John Mullen managed to fend off a strong Reform challenge in Barton and Winton — a ward which had only weeks earlier seen a seat fall to Reform’s Michael Felse.

Eccles was aided by having a candidate with a well-established track record of work directly within the local community and, as part of the wider local team, being integral in securing funding for the much-needed regeneration of the town, which is now gathering pace.

Deputy Mayor John Merry also narrowly held onto his seat, thanks in large part to what many described as a masterclass in grassroots campaigning by fellow councillor Maria Brabiner, who helped turn what had been widely predicted to be a defeat into the slimmest of victories.

Had those three seats fallen then Labour would have been for the first time, teetering on the edge of no overall control.

The continued and persistently low turnout also played a major role in this year’s election. Political apathy appears to have taken hold across many communities, with large numbers of residents no longer seeing a compelling reason to head to the polling station at all. For many voters, disillusionment with mainstream politics has deepened, leaving parties battling not only for support, but for attention and trust.

One thing, however, has become abundantly clear: if Labour hopes to rebuild voter confidence and recover the seats it has lost, the party must accept that significant change is needed — from the grassroots right through to the leadership at the very top. Much of the anger directed at the party stems from decisions made by those holding the reins of power nationally, and unless Labour is prepared to confront those failings head-on, the decline risks continuing.

For some within the party, that may ultimately mean difficult conversations about the future of the leadership itself. Those conversations now need to happen.

So where does the party of the red rose go from here?

Labour’s losses may have been severe, but the party is far from finished. Politics can change rapidly, and much will now depend on how the new wave of largely untested Reform UK councillors perform in office over the coming months. In winning these seats, Reform has raised expectations among voters, and the electorate in Salford will no doubt be watching closely to see whether those campaign promises can be translated into meaningful results.

Labour, meanwhile, still has time to regroup before the next electoral test. Local politics has repeatedly shown that dramatic swings can just as quickly swing back again, with seats changing hands one year only to return at the next election cycle. If Reform hopes to hold onto its new foothold across the city, it will need to prove itself capable not only of winning campaigns, but of governing effectively too.

There is little doubt Labour will spend the coming weeks reflecting on what went wrong, but the party is unlikely to remain on the sidelines for long. Campaigning machines rarely stay dormant, and efforts to rebuild trust with voters will almost certainly already be underway behind the scenes.

One thing is certain: the electoral clock is already ticking toward the next battle.