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Jeremy Corbyn today set his sights on seizing control of Tory “crown jewels” at the May local elections — some of which have been Conservative-held for more than 50 years.

The Labour leader wants to take Westminster and Kensington & Chelsea for the first time, as well as Wandsworth council and Barnet, which is currently under no overall control.

Launching the party’s campaign for the elections on May 3 in central London today, Mr Corbyn:

Attacked Kensington & Chelsea’s performance, which was branded “unacceptable” by the Government in the wake of the Grenfell fire

Vowed to bring privatised services in Barnet back in-house, claiming Tory reforms have made workers “worse off”

Pledged to make Wandsworth and Westminster “living wage” boroughs to give residents “decent pay”.

Westminster and Kensingston & Chelsea councils have been Conservative held since they were formed in 1964.

Wandsworth Council was last held by Labour in 1974 and Barnet is on a knife-edge after the Tories lost their majority when a councillor defected to become an independent.

However Mr Corbyn’s election launch comes in the midst of a bitter party row over the way he and Labour have handled allegations of anti-Semitism, expected to impact heavily on Jewish voters.

Around 20 percent of the UK Jewish population live in Barnet and Labour activists there have told the Standard they are having to work even harder to maintain their current base.

Mr Corbyn has also been criticised over his response to Russian involvement in the Salisbury nerve agent attacks, with Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson describing him as “the Kremlin’s useful idiot”.

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, who joined the Labour leader at the campaign launch today, said the party would invest in local communities and services.

He said the Conservative Party only offers “more cuts, more austerity and more social vandalism”.

Paul Scully MP, the Tory party’s vice chairman for London, said Conservative councils deliver better services with lower taxes for rate payers.

A Labour source today sought to downplay expectations when voters head to the polls.

He said: “We are being realistic about our prospects in several key boroughs. A number of the London boroughs are areas where Labour have either never, or very rarely, had a majority.”