In the United Kingdom, the Conservative Party — whose member Rishi Sunak is currently the prime minister of that country — saw the loss of over 1,000 seats in local elections that were recently held. The elections focused on local councils rather than national positions serving in that country’s parliament.
Nearly complete results showed the Labour Party with the most individual seats in these councils across the United Kingdom, having added over 530 to their total. Other political parties, including the Liberal Democrats and Greens, also did well, each adding hundreds to their totals. Labour had control of 71 individual councils in the nearly complete results, with Conservatives at 33, having seen their total in this metric more than halved. More than 90 councils were listed by the BBC as without overall control following the latest elections.
Ahead of these races, BBC noted that leaders in the Conservative Party tried to put on an about-face, evidently anticipating losses. Education Minister Robert Halfon, serving in the national government with Sunak, blamed factors including difficulties with the cost of living. Sometimes with critical support from an ally, Conservatives have exerted control over the national government in the U.K. for over a decade, but the surge in support seen in these local elections for the Labour Party certainly suggests such could change, ending the era exemplified most recently by figures (besides Sunak) like Theresa May and Boris Johnson. Keir Starmer, who currently leads Labour, was optimistic about his party’s chances in the next national races, BBC noted.
“Most of the councils up for election in England are district councils, responsible for services including bin collections, parks, public housing and planning applications,” that U.K. source also explained. “The rest of the councils being elected are a mixture of metropolitan and unitary councils – single local authorities that deal with all local services.”
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