00:00Well, you've seen the energy in the room here. Our candidates, our members are really geared up for this.
00:06We're going to get out there and fight for every vote.
00:10Sir Keir Starmer there as he launched his party's local election campaign in Wolverhampton
00:15and insisted Labour has a positive case to make in the city and indeed across the wider West Midlands.
00:22Speaking to reporters, the Prime Minister said Labour was going into the campaign in good spirits
00:27with good candidates and good values and argued that every vote in the region would have to be earned.
00:33His intervention comes at a difficult time for Labour.
00:37Birmingham City Council has been run by the party for 14 years
00:40but has faced a series of serious problems including equal pay liabilities
00:45running into the hundreds of millions of pounds.
00:48The council's effective bankruptcy and continuing binge strikes.
00:52All 101 seats on Birmingham City Council are being contested.
00:57With 52 needed for overall control.
01:00Across the West Midlands, Labour is defending the region's biggest authorities
01:04while the Conservatives, Liberal Democrats, Greens, Reform UK and Independent candidates
01:10all hope to make gains.
01:13Wolverhampton is seen as one of Labour's stronger councils in the region
01:17but the choice of launch venue reflected a defensive campaign in a fractured contest
01:23with the party fighting to limit losses and to hold ground.
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