We are on the cusp of change, Merseyside can't wait any longer

We are surely in the last days of Conservative rule.

In its first electoral tests after the party conference in Liverpool, Keir Starmer's Labour Party pulled off two massive by-election victories on Friday. The Conservatives lost two seats that Labour could only have dreamed of winning in previous years.

In Tamworth, the Conservatives were defending a 19,634 majority in a seat they have held since 2010, In Nadine Dorries' old stomping ground of Mid Bedfordshire the Tories had a majority pushing 25,000 in a constituency which has been theirs for 92 years.

Those strongholds disappeared overnight. Labour candidate Sarah Edwards won with a majority of 1,316 in Tamworth. In Mid Bedfordshire, Alistair Strathern took the seat for Labour with a majority of 1,192.

The historic victories strengthen Labour's calls for a general election. The party spent its conference in Liverpool earlier this month in a bullish mood, taking the fight to Rishi Sunak with a message of "bring it on" - these results justify that attitude.

Social media is awash with people calling for a general election. That sentiment was driven by newly-elected Tamworth MP Sarah Edwards, who said: "My message to the Prime Minister is: get in your government car, drive to Buckingham Palace, do the decent thing, and call a general election."

Labour are on the charge. Having turned over two Tory strongholds and flying high in opinion polls, the party believes it will be the next government.

For now, it feels like Mr Sunak is clinging onto power. His best hope to stay in Number 10 for as long as possible is not to call a general election until he absolutely has to.

The Prime Minister's Tory conference speech delivered earlier this month was an attempt to position himself as a candidate of change and promising to bring a new approach to politics. To no real surprise, that has not rung true with voters.

Representing a party that has been in government for 13 years but pitching yourself as the man to inspire a new era is as audacious as it gets.

At these by-elections, voters saw through. On Merseyside - a region crying out for change and one that harbours no love for Tories - I'm pretty confident that nobody will expect Rishi Sunak to be the man to deliver such change.

Across our region, people are contending with the consequences of the past 13 years.

Our local authorities have seen their budgets slashed by government cuts. This week, Wirral Council's leader said the local authority is "finding it more and more difficult each year to find ways to balance the budget."

Wirral has seen its budget cut by a quarter since 2010, leaving it having to plug holes in its finances while struggling to fund vital services. Merseyside's other local authorities - as well as those up and down the country - face similar funding quandaries. Public services are stretched beyond belief, inflation continues to bite everybody hard.

A study commissioned by campaign group 38 Degrees found that more than one in five people in Birkenhead would describe themselves as “financially desperate”, meaning they cannot afford essentials. People were asked to rank themselves from "well-off" to "financially desperate".

In Birkenhead, 22% of people put themselves in the "financially desperate" category. This means they “currently cannot afford essentials such as food, rent or mortgage [and are] already taking extreme measures such as skipping meals or missing rent payments”. In Liverpool Riverside, the figure is 16%, and it is 15% in Liverpool West Derby.

Before the Labour Party arrived in Liverpool for its conference earlier this month, the ECHO called on the party to show us how it would deliver real change if elected. Facing the cost of living crisis and with public services on their knees - cut to the bone by more than a decade of cuts - the struggles of people in our region show that we can't go on like this.

Labour has promised a 'mission-based' approach to government, with a commitment to growing the economy presented as the foundation for policy. Two of its key proposals do inspire optimism - a publicly-owned clean energy company and a commitment to building new homes are sensible solutions to major problems facing the country at the moment.

Greater devolution has been promised, allowing the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority and the councils within it to make their own choices with government grants, rather than bid against each other for it. Local leaders have welcomed that suggestion.

We are on the cusp of change. Earlier this month, Andy Burnham told the ECHO that the conference in Liverpool would be the "launchpad" for a Labour government.

After this week's by-election results, that sounds more and more likely.

The pressure on Mr Sunak to call a general election will mount. Barring a campaign disaster, Labour should win, whenever an election happens.

Merseyside will hope that will be the start of something better.

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