This is a bad omen for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and his majority in Parliament before the next legislative elections. Britain’s Conservatives are suffering major losses according to early local election results in England. In the aftermath of the vote held Thursday to renew municipal councils, the results of which are gradually falling, the Tories, who have governed the country for 13 years, are already suffering significant defeats in traditional bastions of the British right.
“It is always disappointing for these hard-working Conservative advisers,” reacted Rishi Sunak on Sky News, repeating his promises at the national level concerning the economy, health or the fight against illegal immigration. He said on Wednesday that he expected “difficult” elections. After counting the ballots in 72 of the 230 local councils at stake this year, the Conservatives lost 258 elected officials. Labor won 143. The Liberal Democrats (centrists) recorded a net gain of 63 elected, the Green Party ecologists won 37.
Opposition in force
The Labor Party, which hopes to succeed in bringing its leader Keir Starmer into Downing Street after the next general elections scheduled for the end of next year, for example won the local councils of Plymouth (south) and Stoke-on-Trent (north), Brexit “capital” which voted 69% to leave the European Union in 2016.
“We have fantastic results across the country,” said Keir Starmer to supporters in Medway (southeast) where Labor took over the local council from the Tories. “We have won the trust of voters and now we can move forward to change the country,” he said.
Distrust of conservatives
The Tories are also losing the local council in Hertsmere, north-west London, where Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden is an MP. On the eve of the coronation of King Charles III, they also lost control of the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead to the Liberal Democrats. “We are exceeding all expectations,” rejoiced the leader of the Liberal Democrats Ed Davey, welcoming the blow to the conservative “blue wall”.
The Conservatives collapsed in the polls over the political scandals that marred the Boris Johnson era (2019-2022) and then under the effect of the financial turmoil caused by Liz Truss’ 49 days in Downing Street last year. The social crisis caused by inflation has aggravated their situation. The rise to power of ex-banker and finance minister Rishi Sunak last October brought a semblance of stability, with political successes such as an agreement with Brussels on the post-Brexit status of Northern Ireland. But mistrust persists in public opinion, confirmed by these local elections.