Clik here to view.
SNP triumph in Scotland must end Labour party complacency, warn shadow cabinet members
Ed Miliband is to be warned by senior Labour figures that he must work hard to fight a sense of complacency among many MPs after the party was rebuffed in Scotland and failed to make a breakthrough in the English local elections.
Shadow cabinet members were disappointed by results across Britain, with some saying the only hope was that the elections would jolt the party into appreciating the scale of the battle ahead.
The greatest blow came in Scotland where the SNP became the first party to win an overall majority in the parliament's 12-year history – a result widely described as an unmitigated disaster for Labour.
Miliband announced that he would launch a review of the Labour party in Scotland as Iain Gray, its Scottish leader, announced he would resign in the autumn. "While we have seen good results today, gaining councils and councillors across England and winning in Wales, this is clearly a very disappointing election result in Scotland," Miliband said.
"We need to learn the lessons of that result, both political and organisational. That is why I, with Iain, am today putting in place a root-and-branch review of the Labour party in Scotland. This will bring together all elements of the Scottish party to renew it for the future."
One Labour source said: "It was a total disaster at all the key levels of policy, organisation, personnel and message."
There was better news in the English council elections, where Labour gained more than 700 seats – at the upper limit of the party's official projections. But shadow ministers believe Labour should have done much better because the same seats were last contested in 2007, a month before Tony Blair handed over to Gordon Brown, when the party lost more than 500 seats and only just beat the Lib Dems.
The Tories are on course to secure about 38% of the vote, down two points on their strong performance in 2007. Labour is up 11 points on its weak performance of 2007 on about 37%. The Lib Dems are down seven points on about 17%.
One Labour source said: "It was good enough but it was not a knockout."
Unease on the left was reflected by Neal Lawson, of the Compass group, who said: "These results show that Labour is flatlining from its terrible result at the general election. It still looks, feels and acts too much like New Labour."
Labour officials tried to put a brave face on the results as they said successes in Gravesham, North Warwickshire, Lincoln and Sheffield showed the party could succeed across England. "We were worried until we heard the results in North Warwickshire and Gravesham. These are the sorts of places we need to win."
Miliband travelled to Gravesham to hail the result.
"North, south, east and west, Labour is making gains and coming back," he said. "I say this to David Cameron and Nick Clegg: you must listen to the people. The Conservative party does not have a majority in parliament and has only been able to govern because of the Liberal Democrats' willing participation in a Tory-led government."
But there was concern at senior levels of the party after the Tory vote held up in England and Labour failed to show it was making major inroads across the south.
There was an acknowledgment that Labour performed well against the Lib Dems and humiliated them in the strongholds of Sheffield and Hull and former stronghold of Liverpool. But there are fears that these successes could give Labour a false sense of security and mask the scale of the challenge ahead. "You cannot build a majority just by beating the Lib Dems," one source said.
The Tories delighted in pointing out that Labour only just hung on in the Birmingham city council ward of Kingstanding – after a 9% swing to the Conservatives – where Miliband launched Labour's local election campaign. They also reminded Labour that Miliband announced that his fightback would start in Scotland.
Party figures hope the lacklustre results will silence the likes of Kelvin Hopkins, the Labour MP for Luton North who told Cameron in the Commons on Wednesday that Labour was bound to win the next election. "Will the prime minister enjoy saying goodbye to most of his colleagues and sitting on this side of the house," Hopkins said, prompting the prime minister to tell him he was in Benny Hill's "fairy dairy land".
One source said: "If there is one silver lining it is that some of the complacency will hopefully be knocked on the head."