SIR KEIR STARMER has urged voters to back Labour candidates in tomorrow’s elections, promising that they will provide a strong voice for communities across Britain and oppose the sleaze-ridden Tory government. But as the country votes in the largest set of polls ever held outside of a general election, Sir Keir has been warned that deserting the left has put Labour at risk of heavy defeat. He conceded that his party was “climbing a mountain” today as polls indicated that it was set to lose the parliamentary by-election in Hartlepool. The “red wall” town in northern England has returned a Labour MP at every election since the seat was first contested in 1974, including twice under previous leader Jeremy Corbyn.