Conservative Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s camp suffers setback in local elections in England

On the eve of Charles III’s coronation on Saturday May 6, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s British Conservatives suffered major losses in local elections in England. It was the first test at the ballot box for the head of government who arrived in Downing Street in October and the results, still partial, are not good. In the aftermath of the vote held on Thursday to renew 8,000 seats in 230 municipal councils, the Tories, in power for 13 years, suffered significant defeats in traditional bastions of the British right.

“It’s always disappointing for these hard-working Conservative advisers”reacted Rishi Sunak on Sky News as soon as the first results were announced in the early morning, repeating his promises at the national level concerning the economy, health or the fight against illegal immigration.

More than 1,000 elected officials lost to the Conservatives

After counting the ballots in 219 of the 230 local councils at stake this year, the Conservatives have lost more than 1,000 elected officials, according to the BBC. Labor wins 513 but is far from the only one to benefit from the distrust of the majority. The Liberal Democrats (centrists) recorded a net gain of 409 seats, the Green Party ecologists won 238.

The Labor Party, which hopes to succeed in bringing its leader Keir Starmer into Downing Street after the next general elections due by the end of next year, for example won the local council of Stoke-on- Trent (north), “capital” of Brexit which had voted 69% for leaving the European Union in 2016, and that of Dover, port of the Channel traditionally on the right. “We have fantastic results across the country”Keir Starmer welcomed supporters in Medway (south-east) where Labor took over the local council from the Tories.