Tories’ ‘worst performance in 40 years’ in local elections
Curtice’s grim prediction for Sunak ahead of final results coming in
RISHI Sunak’s Conservative Party was hit by bruising local council results in England, as a leading elections expert said the Tories could lose up to 500 seats.
As The National went to press last night, they were down 433, with a total of 463 seats. Labour 1019 had won a total of 1019, an increase of 169. The LibDems were up 94 at 487 and the Greens had gained 66, which put them on a total of 159. Votes were held in 107 local authorities.
Elections expert Professor Sir John Curtice said yesterday morning that the Tories could be on course for “one of the worst, if not the worst” performances by the party in 40 years.
“So far they are basically losing a half of the seats they are trying to defend. If that continues, they may end up losing 500 or so seats, which is the thing they were meant to avoid,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
Most of the council seats up for re-election in England were last contested in 2021, at the peak of Boris Johnson’s popularity as the Covid-19 vaccine was rolled out. Voters across England and Wales also had the chance to choose police and crime commissioners. Key results included:
●Labour won Rushmoor in Hampshire for the first time and claimed the council in General Election bellwether Redditch.
●Labour won Hartlepool council, regaining ground in an area where the party suffered a Westminster byelection disaster in 2021.
●Labour won Thurrock, one of its top targets and an area of the country that will be a key battleground with the Tories at the next general election.
●The Tories clung on by a single seat in Harlow, a council targeted by Labour leader Keir Starmer on the eve of polling day.
●Labour lost control in Oldham, with gains made by independents possibly due to Starmer’s stance on the war in Gaza.
A strong showing by Reform UK will add to Tory unease about Sunak’s ability to lead the party to a Westminster election victory.
Reform UK’s leader Richard Tice said his party had “rapidly become the real opposition to Labour, whether it’s in the North, the Midlands, we know it’s the case in Wales”.
In Sunderland, one of the few councils where Reform fought every seat, it beat the Conservatives into third place in 16 of the 25 seats up for grabs while Labour made a net gain of six to increase its comfortable majority.
The LibDmes said they expected to