For Boris Johnson, the first mood test is disappointing. After scandals surrounding lockdown parties and sexism in Parliament, voters are punishing his Tories in local elections. But the British prime minister still has a glimmer of hope.
It must have been a rude awakening for Boris Johnson. According to the first results, his conservative party suffered heavy losses in the local elections on Thursday. For the first time in decades, the Tories have lost control of the London Boroughs of Wandsworth, Westminster and Barnet. The opposition Labor Party also made gains in Southampton, Cumberland and several other Tory strongholds.
“We’ve had a tough night in some parts of the country, but on the other hand we’ve also made gains in places that haven’t voted conservative for a long time, if ever,” Johnson told reporters on Friday. Labor leader Keir Starmer spoke of a “huge turning point” for his party.
Local elections voted for thousands of local and county council seats across much of England, Wales and Scotland. Even if the focus is on concrete local politics, this time the elections were seen as a test of mood for the prime minister personally. After the ongoing Partygate affair about illegal lockdown celebrations and several sexism incidents in Parliament, frustration about the scandalous behavior in Downing Street is growing among the population. In many places, conservative candidates had distanced themselves from Johnson during the election campaign and in some cases pleaded on election posters not to blame them for government mistakes.
With the knowledge of first results many of the fears were realised: as of 4 p.m. the Tories have lost 225 seats in England – in total it could be up to 250 in the course of the evening.
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In Carlisle, in the northwestern English Borough of Cumberland, Conservative City Council Chairman John Mallinson can barely contain his anger. It was “difficult to direct the debate to local issues” while the election campaign was dominated by the Partygate scandals and the sharp rise in the cost of living due to inflation. “I think it’s not just Partygate, there’s an integrity issue,” Mallinson said in “BBC” interview. “Basically, I just have the feeling that people no longer have the confidence that the prime minister can be trusted to tell the truth.” When asked whether Johnson should be removed, he replied, “I would prefer that, yes.”
Portsmouth City Council is also very frustrated with those responsible in London. The Westminster leadership needs to “take a good, long, hard look in the mirror” to understand why they’ve lost four seats, said Simon Bosher, the Tory’s senior at Portsmouth. At the request of the “Guardians“Whether he means the Prime Minister, Bosher said: “I think Boris also has to take a good, proper look in the mirror (…) because it’s the people on the doorstep who ultimately bear the brunt of the behavior caught in Westminster.”
Criticism of Johnson also comes from Parliament. Conservative MP Stephen Hammond said Partygate had a “huge impact on voters”. His party colleague David Simmonds said Johnson now had to “face difficult questions”.
Other leading Conservatives, however, tried to downplay the losses. “Of course we had some difficult results, you can see that in London,” Tory general secretary Oliver Dowden said.BBC“However, his party would have grown, especially in more rural communities. “If you consider that we have midterms, that definitely doesn’t show that Labor would have the momentum to run the next government,” said Dowden. He also denied that Johnson is to blame for the election losses and reiterated in an interview with Sky News: “We need this kind of courageous leadership.”
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Labor declares ‘turning point’ as Liberals celebrate rebound
In the Labor wing, on the other hand, the surprising victory in several London constituencies caused jubilation. “This is a huge turning point for us,” said the triumphant party leader Keir Starmer – and referred to the low point in the 2019 general election, when his party had still suffered significant losses. “We have changed Labor,” stressed Starmer, speaking of a “message” to Conservative Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
But apart from the capital and a few places in southern England, the main opposition party failed to make any significant gains after the first counts. “The problem is that Labor’s share of the vote outside of London has actually fallen slightly,” said election expert John Curtice at “BBC Radio 4All in all, the Liberal Democrats, the Independents and the Green Party won the most seats in the afternoon, particularly in Oxfordshire, Eastleigh and Portsmouth in southern England. As of 4 p.m the Labor Party gained 43 new seats, while the Liberal Democrats won 124 and the Greens 77.
With a view to the 2024 general election, the Liberal Democratic Party announced the fight to the prime minister: “It is clear that in many parts of the country it is the Liberal Democrats who can defeat the Conservatives and get Boris Johnson out of Downing Street,” said the deputy party leader Daisy Cooper.
Labor leader Barry Rawlings also sees the election results less as an expression of enthusiasm for his party and more of disappointment with the Tories. “I’ll be honest, it’s not because we’re great,” Rawlings said. “I think a lot of Conservatives didn’t vote this time because they were disaffected [Downing Street] No 10 feel alienated and disappointed in Boris Johnson and therefore did not vote.”
For Boris Johnson, the tremors continue
Boris Johnson – who is considered the best campaigner in his party – should by now be used to standing with his back to the wall. At the end of last year, when the first reports of illegal lockdown parties circulated at the government headquarters, many critics saw his political head roll. But so far he has always been able to fight his way out of seemingly hopeless situations – also because there is no suitable replacement candidate.
This time, too, Johnson speaks for the fact that the nationwide election result for the Tories will not be as bad as feared. “The party did not suffer the catastrophe that would have increased the pressure so much that Johnson would have to resign,” explained political scientist Mark Garnett to the German Press Agency. In addition, away from London, it was mostly the smaller Liberal Democrats who benefited from the defeats – and not the main opposition opponent.
In the camp there, another piece of news is likely to dampen the mood on Friday: Labor leader Starmer is now the focus of police investigations because of a possible breach of the Corona rules. Police surprisingly said they were looking into a meeting at a Labor office in Durham, northern England, last year because of new “significant information”.
Nevertheless, it is clear that the prime minister must regain confidence himself. “The most important message from voters is that we should take care of the things that matter most to them,” Johnson said on Friday. For him and his government, that means getting the cost of living crisis under control as quickly as possible – and not starting any new scandals.
Sources: “Guardians“, “BBC“, “NYTimes“, “Reuters“, with DPA material