Labour and the Liberal Democrats have hinted they could form a coalition after Thursday’s local election results pointed towards a hung parliament.

Wes Streeting, the shadow health secretary, said Labour was “not entertaining” the idea of such a pact but repeatedly refused to rule one out.

He said that Sir Keir Starmer is confident of winning an outright majority but admitted the party cannot afford to take the result for granted.

Sir Ed Davey, the Lib Dem leader, said there was no way he would work with the Tories but did not make the same commitment about Labour.

Their remarks came after Professor Sir John Curtice, the polling expert, predicted that Britain could be head towards a hung parliament.

He said the results of the local elections indicated that Labour would fall 14 seats short of a majority, meaning it would need the support of other parties.

The Lib Dems are hoping to win more than 20 seats from the Tories after making big gains across the Blue Wall in southern England.

Mr Streeting told the BBC: “I know the Conservative Party would love us to be talking about whether or not there will be a coalition after the next general election.

“We think we can win a majority. That’s what we’re working towards, that’s what we’re fighting for.”

When pressed on whether he could rule out a pact with the Lib Dems, he replied: “We’re just not in that ballpark of talking about coalition governments.

“I think people can go confidently to the polls at the next general election knowing that a Labour government is possible and within our grasp.”

He separately told Sky News: “We’re not even entertaining that prospect. I just don’t think that is the scenario that we are going to be in after the next general election.”