British voters punish national leaders

Labour Party gains ground in local elections but Johnson hangs on as mayor of London

LONDON – At a time of deepening austerity, social cutbacks and political fallout from the phone-hacking scandal, Britons seem to have turned against their national leaders in bellwether mayoral and local council elections claimed as a resounding triumph by the opposition Labour party, according to partial results Friday.

But the biggest race, for the mayor’s office in London, went in favour of the incumbent, Boris Johnson, a prominent standard-bearer for the Conservative Party. Johnson took 51.5 per cent of the vote, with Ken Livingstone, his 67-yearold Labour predecessor, garnering 48.5 per cent.

“I suspect this result has settled the question of the next Tory leadership election,” Livingstone said in his concession speech, while Johnson promised to “get a good deal from the government.”

Across the rest of the country, the local elections saw the Conservatives lose 405 seats on local councils, more than a quarter of those they previously held, according to a tally by the BBC. Labour added 823 seats and gained control of Birmingham, Britain’s second-largest city, Cardiff, the Welsh capital, and 30 other councils.

It also won a majority in Glasgow, Scotland’s largest city. Extrapolated nationally, the results gave Labour a projected lead over the Tories of 38 per cent to 31 per cent, the BBC said.

The Liberal Democrats lost the most seats of all, punished, their supporters said, for the compromises on health, welfare and tax policies they struck with the Conservatives in the national government.

Prime Minister David Cam- eron apologized to Conservative councillors who lost their seats and said the results would not change government economic policies.

Support nationwide for the Conservatives has slumped to the lowest since the coalition government came to power two years ago. Cameron has faced a backlash over the March 21 budget that penalized charities and pensioners, and provided an income-tax cut for the rich.

“These are difficult times and there aren’t easy answers,” Cameron said.

His Liberal Democrat coalition partners also suffered, losing 336 council seats and falling to their lowest number since the party was formed in 1988.