‘The results here tonight demonstrate that they need to be listening to the man, woman and businesses on the street’
Ros Jones, the mayor of Doncaster, has warned Keir Starmer that he “needs to listen” to voters, moments after she was re-elected with a majority of 698 votes.
In the 2021 election, Jones beat the Conservative candidate with a majority of 10,213 votes.
Straight after her win, Jones told the BBC: “I think national government needs to look and see what people are saying.”
Jones said: “I wrote as soon as the winter fuel allowance was actually mooted, and I said it was wrong.”
Jones said she the used the council’s household support fund to ensure no-one in Doncaster went cold during the winter.
She added: “I think the results here tonight demonstrate that they need to be listening to the man, woman and businesses on the street and actually deliver for the people, with the people.”
Asked if Starmer was listening, she said the government hasn’t always realised the reality in Doncaster.
She said on two or three occasions “they haven’t actually realised because the people of Doncaster know how hard life can be”.
She added: “It’s about delivering for them, their children and their children’s children.”
She said that the “working man” and businesses want the government to listen to them and drive the country forward.
“What I’m saying to Keir is this: he needs to listen and take action,” she added.
While Labour has held onto the Doncaster mayoralty, there are 55 councillor seats now up for grabs, and polling has indicated that Reform could take the council off Labour.
Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward
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