Clarke underlines fight for local seats in party's urban heartlands

Charles Clarke urged Labour's rank and file yesterday to fight to win every local government seat next summer and suggested the party was facing defeat in its urban heartlands.

The Labour party chairman warned delegates to understand the importance of elections in cities where the results would be especially close, and he urged them to do their utmost "to keep the momentum of good election results".

Greg Cook, the party's head of polling, reminded the faithful that Labour lost overall control on key councils last May. "There will undoubtedly be more Stokes and Hulls next year unless we identify where the threat is and act on it."

The party faces local mayoral elections in a fortnight in Stoke, Hackney, Mansfield and Bedford. A third of the seats on the 36 metropolitan district councils, including Birmingham, Wolverhampton and Trafford, will be up for grabs in May.

Officials are also gearing up for elections in May to the Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly. Labour Party leaders hope to win control and end their coalition deals with the Liberal Democrats.

Mr Clarke told activists to go all out to increase the number of seats in the Scottish Parliament "so that we can be given the power to govern alone and build a better Scotland without having to negotiate every action with the Liberal Democrats".

Mr Clarke said: "I can tell you that in each of the places where elections are taking place Labour will be fighting to win. We will promote hope and confidence in the future on the basis that confidence will lead to change and support for our party in every local election."

David Triesman, the party's general secretary, urged activists to adopt the pavement politics successfully used by the Liberal Democrats.

He said: "The old methods on their own of just telling people what's good for them won't work. How do you judge that you have a good community? You judge it through your street, your neighbourhood, a good hospital because that is where you actually go and where the family are treated, a good school because that's where your kids go.

He added: "These questions are all answered by personal experience. That's why we need a relationship that goes on all the time, not an occasional encounter on the doorstep. It's personal."