Conservatives rejected by voters at UK local elections

London  — Rishi Sunak’s Conservatives faced steep losses in local election results on Friday, undermining the British prime minister’s efforts to revive their fortunes and emboldening the opposition Labour Party ahead of a national vote expected next year.

Sunak came to power in October after a year of political scandals, surging inflation and stagnant economic growth. In office he has faced a cost-of-living crisis, mounting concern about healthcare and widespread industrial action.

While governing parties often struggle at midterm elections, the council results in England are the largest, and possibly last, test of voter sentiment before the next national election due by January 2025.

Initial results of a vote that does not affect the government’s majority in parliament showed the Conservatives suffering a net loss of 324 seats while Labour added 193 seats and the Liberal Democrats gained 87.

A Sky News projection based on the vote share of the early results said Labour could garner 36-38% of the vote at the next national election, making them the biggest party, with the Conservatives at 28-30%.

The projection said Labour might fall short of a majority, though that could depend on how it fares in Scotland, where it is competing to take seats off the Scottish National Party and which did not hold local polls.

Counting has not finished for most of the 8,000 council seats in local government authorities, which have responsibility for the day-to-day provision of services such as bin collections and schools.

“No spin, no gloss. This is a dreadful set of results,” said Justin Tomlinson, Conservative lawmaker in parliament for Swindon North.

‘Unambiguous’ rebuff to Conservatives

Labour won control of Swindon borough council, a town in southwest England where Labour leader Keir Starmer launched his election campaign, and which has always voted for lawmakers for the governing party since 1983.

Labour said they were now on track for power at the next general election.

Sunak’s party suffered losses to Labour in key target seats in the north and southern England, while the Liberal Democrats were advancing in wealthier parts of the south.

Sunak told reporters the results so far showed that people wanted his ruling party to deliver on their priorities, but that it was still too early in the process of announcing results to draw firm conclusions as counts continue.

John Curtice, Britain’s best-known pollster, said the results were an “unambiguous” rebuff to the Conservatives but there was still an open question over how popular Labour were.

"(Labour) might achieve winning an overall majority, not because of any great enthusiasm of the electorate for Labour, but rather simply because the Conservatives are doing so badly,” he told BBC radio.

Sunak has tried to restore the credibility of the Conservatives since he became prime minister in October, the party’s third leader in the past year.

Boris Johnson was first ousted partly over parties held in government buildings during Covid-19 lockdowns, while Liz Truss was brought down following a gamble on tax cuts that shattered Britain's reputation for financial stability.

Sunak’s party lost control of at least eight councils in what Johnny Mercer, an MP for Plymouth, said was a “terrible” night for the Conservatives.

The last time most of these local election seats were contested was in 2019 when the Conservatives lost more than 1,300 seats which had been expected to help limit the losses in these elections.

Labour made gains in some areas that backed leaving the European Union in the 2016 Brexit referendum which the party will need to win over if it wants to achieve a majority at the next general election.

“Make no mistake, we are on course for a Labour majority at the next general election,” Labour leader Starmer said on a visit to Medway, one of the councils it picked up on the night.

Reuters