General Election: May insists she is ‘taking nothing for granted’

Theresa May has insisted she is "taking nothing for granted", despite predictions she is on course for a landslide on 8 June in the wake of the Tories’ strong performance in the local elections.

On a busy day of campaigning with just over a month to go until polling day in the General Election:

:: Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn acknowledged he faces a "challenge on a historic scale" to turn around dire polling figures which suggested the party is headed for its worst defeat in decades.

:: Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron said Thursday’s elections showed Labour was "finished" as a viable opposition to the Conservatives, who are on course for a landslide majority larger than those enjoyed by Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s.

:: Scottish National Party leader Nicola Sturgeon said voters in Scotland have a straight choice between her party and the Tories, after the Conservatives overhauled Labour as the second biggest party north of the border on Thursday.

:: On a visit to Burgh Le Marsh in Lincolnshire, UKIP’s Paul Nuttall claimed the party’s future is "very bright indeed", despite losing more than 100 councillors on Thursday.

The local election results have been widely seen as a vindication of Mrs May’s tough stance on Brexit and her decision to go for a snap election.

:: Projection: PM could win Commons majority of 48

But the Prime Minister is refusing to get carried away.

Speaking during a campaign visit to Wolverhampton, she said: "Not a single vote has been cast in that election yet, and none of the votes cast yesterday will count on 8 June in the General Election.

"In the minds of European politicians, there isn’t a mandate to take into the Brexit negotiations.

"I’m taking nothing for granted over the next five weeks.

"I need support from across the United Kingdom to strengthen my hand, and only a vote for me and my team will ensure that Britain has the strong and stable leadership we need in order to ensure we get the best deal for Britain from Brexit."

:: No bubbly, no banners as Tories play it cool

Mr Corbyn was out on the stump in Leicester.

He acknowledged the results, which saw Labour lose 320 councillors and relinquish control of seven authorities, were "disappointing", but insisted "the gap between us and the Tories is not as great as the pundits have been saying".

Mr Corbyn called on supporters to "seize the moment" by campaigning hard over the coming weeks to transform the party’s prospects.

And he said that if Labour won, there would be "a reckoning" with big businesses and bankers who had stripped industrial assets, crashed the economy and ripped off consumers and workers.

Mr Farron was at the launch of a new Lib Dem policy to raise £6bn for the NHS by putting a penny on all bands of income tax.

He said the recent elections gave a "crystal clear" insight into what will happen next month.

"At the moment, Theresa May is heading for a majority even bigger than the ones that Margaret Thatcher had in the 1980s, and that means all our communities, your family, your children, being taken for granted," Mr Farron said.

"There is only one opposition party left standing after Thursday – not just standing but growing – and that’s the Liberal Democrats."

Ms Sturgeon said the Conservatives had "a good day by their standards" in Scotland, but were taking votes from Labour rather than the SNP and were still had a share of the vote in Scotland lower than Mr Corbyn’s "disastrous" performance in England.

"As we go into the General Election, the people of Scotland have a clear choice," she said.

"It is pretty clear that Theresa May, on the strength of support in England, is going to win the General Election, so for people in Scotland, if they want strong voices standing up for Scotland’s interests and holding the Tories to account in Westminster, that can only come from the SNP."

(c) Sky News 2017: General Election: May insists she is ‘taking nothing for granted’