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Bad night for Tories as they lose councils
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Labour majority at next GE goes odds-on
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Starmer short price to be next PM
A Labour majority at the next general election shortened to odds-on on the Betfair Exchange as early local election results showed them making key gains form the Conservatives.
Labour were backed in to 1.9110/11 from just over even money as counts continued across England.
Yesterday, the Tories were heavy odds-on to lose more than 750 seats and some experts said after the initial results came in last night that they could lose around 1,000.
Starmer short price to be next PM
It was expected to be a bad night for the Conservatives, for whom Rishi Sunak is their fifth leader since coming to power in 2010, and the signs are that they will be booted out of office at the next general election.
Bettors expect Sunak to lead his party into the election and think it unlikely he will be replaced in the meantime. Sunak is 11.521/2 to be replaced as Tory leader this year, 2.245/4 in 2024 and 1.834/5 for any later.
Labour leader Keir Starmer said this morning that his party are ready for government and he is 1.282/7 to be the UK's next prime minister.
Results show Sunak faces huge task
The general election is likely to take place in May or October 2024 and between now and then it will be a surprise if Sunak can turn around his party's fortunes.
He will have been particularly concerned to have already seen Labour gain control of key councils in the English local elections, including Medway, Plymouth and Stoke-on-Trent.
The Liberal Democrats took control of Windsor and Maidenhead.

However, Labour can take nothing for granted. Starmer said on Friday morning that, if the results were repeated nationally at a general election, his party would win by eight points.
But some experts have said warned that Labour needs an advantage of 10 points to win the next general election and put Starmer in 10 Downing Street. Labour are hoping to make inroads in Scotland at the next general election due to the SNP's problems.
Political bettors know that they should never write off the Tories - they have defied the odds to win before and remain Britain's most electorally successful party - but the local election results so far are encouraging for Labour and deeply concerning for the Conservatives.
Keep up to date with all the latest politics betting news with Paul Krishnamurty on the live blog.