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Britain’s Conservative Party endured big losses in early results from local elections being viewed as a test of support for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak ’s government as a national election approaches. The opposition Labour Party and Liberal Democrats made significant gains.
While the bulk of results were due later, the Conservatives acknowledged it had already been “a disappointing night” as ballots were counted from Thursday’s voting.
But Conservative chairman Greg Hands argued that it had “not been a resounding result for Labour.” The left-of-center opposition party hopes the results will confirm its front-runner status for a general election that is due by the end of 2024.
With about a quarter of results in, the Conservatives had lost more than 200 seats in elections for more than 8,000 seats on 230 local councils across England. The right-of-center party lost control of several councils, including Medway in southeast England, which it had run for a quarter-century, and the naval city of Plymouth in the southwest.
Labour gained control of at least three new councils, while the centrist Liberal Democrats grabbed control from the Conservatives in Windsor, an affluent town west of London that is the location of royal residence Windsor Castle.
While many contests turned on local issues such as potholes and garbage collection, voters appeared to punish the Conservatives for the turmoil that engulfed the party under former Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
