LONDON (Parliament Politics Magazine) – In English local elections, the Conservatives lost control of major London councils, but Labour has made small gains elsewhere.
In a successful night for the Lib Dems, they won gains in Tory areas and won Hull City Council from Labour.
Polling expert Sir John Curtice believes the Conservatives are on way to lose approximately 250 seats throughout England with just under half of the results in.
Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland will start counting later.
So far, these are the outcomes:
- Wandsworth, a south London borough held by the Tories since 1978, was won by Labour.
- The Conservatives lose control of Westminster, Barnet, and Southampton councils to Labour.
- Conservatives maintain control of councils with smaller majorities, such as those in northern England and Dudley and Redditch.Â
- Labour maintains control of councils with smaller majorities, such as Wolverhampton, Salford, and Coventry, where its vote has historically been strong.
- Voters chose to abandon Bristol’s mayoral system and alter the way the city council is administered in a referendum.
The Conservatives were expecting heavy losses in England ahead of the elections, as they faced assaults over growing living costs and the ongoing Partygate affair, which included the PM’s recent fine for breaching lockdown regulations.
They had had some terrible results and that is evident in London, Oliver Dowden, Conservative Party co-chairman, told BBC Breakfast, adding that voting took place against a challenging backdrop for the administration.
However, he claimed that the results so far did not suggest that Labour had the momentum to create the next government.
With results from other English councils expected to be announced on Friday afternoon and evening, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer paid a visit to Barnet in north London to celebrate the party’s victory over the Conservatives.
He told a crowd of supporters, this was a big turning point. They had recovered from the abyss of the 2019 general election.
He went on to say, “We’ve sent a message to the Prime Minister: Britain deserves better.”
However, according to Sir John Curtice’s analysis of major wards, Labour’s total popularity has fallen by 0.2 percent since 2018, when the majority of the seats up for grabs this time were last contested and the party had its performance in the local election under previous leader Jeremy Corbyn.
Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey told BBC Breakfast that the results were by far very promising for his party, especially taking back Hull after 11 years from labour. Also, a real picture was now emerging across the country, particularly in areas that were held by the Conservatives, that the Lib Dems were the real challengers.
