Sunak’s failure in the UK local elections puts his leadership at risk

One of their great victories was the by-election in Blackpool South, in which they took the seat from the Conservatives. Party leader Keir Starmer announced on Friday morning that the result “sends a message” to Sunak, and asked the prime minister to “relinquish his position.” “This was a direct message to the prime minister: ‘Make way, let’s have a general election, let’s allow our country to move forward,'” he said, admitting he was “very happy with the results” so far. He told his followers: “We are tired of its decline, chaos and division, and we want change.” Angela Rayner, the party’s second-in-command, also urged the prime minister to call a general election and thus “allow the country to move forward”.

It is worth highlighting the gap that is being created Reform UK, formerly the Brexit Party, Which received 16.9% of the vote in Blackpool South was credited by her party’s performance in the by-election. The analysis was clear: the Conservative Party vote decreased by 32.1%, while the Labor Party vote increased by 20.6%, and the Reform Party vote by 10.7%. Thus, while nearly two-thirds of the Conservative vote went to the Labor opposition, the Reform Party won a third.

Lee Anderson, the UK’s only reformist MP at Westminster and a former deputy leader of the Conservative Party, congratulated himself by telling the press “We are here to stay, and we are moving forward.” “Our trajectory is going up and down, while the Conservative Party is going down and down and down,” he said.

Hard night

Speaking from the Conservatives was their leader, Richard Holden, who said that although it was “too early” to comment on the results, he acknowledged that it had been a “difficult night” for the Conservatives due to the loss of seats so far. “We have lost some good advisors across the country,” he said, declining to speculate on what the results might mean for the general election, noting that there are still a lot of results that have not yet been announced. He stuck out his chest, saying that despite predictions of many losses among his ranks, the Prime Minister “can definitely” lead them to victory in the national vote. However, he insisted, “the game is not over,” but rather “it has only just begun.” “Let’s see until all the ballots are counted exactly what the results end up being.”

Extermination of conservatives

Teacher and analyst Michael Thrasher He told Sky News the results represent “very bad news” for the Conservatives and show they are in danger of being “annihilated” in the general election. “If the Conservative decline is as low as these local elections seem to be telling us so far, then we are in a similar situation to 1997, where the Conservative vote fell so low that they were almost wiped out,” he said.

The only hope for Sunak’s ranks, today, Friday, was to win one of the most prominent municipal elections, after Ben Houchen clung to his position in the Tees Valley, a result that came as a breath of fresh air, albeit insufficient, in the face of the disaster. This was confirmed by Labor’s victories in York and North Yorkshire, the region that includes Sunak’s electoral district in Richmond, with a majority of nearly 15,000 votes over the Conservatives. Houchen bucked the anti-Tory trend by being elected to a third term in an area that was once a strong Labor stronghold.

Analysts believe the results in the Tees Valley, as well as in the West Midlands and London, which will be announced on Saturday, will determine how British politics evolves for the rest of the year, and could even lead to the Prime Minister making a decision. The date is now to hold general elections, which he promised to call in the second half of the year, although there is time until January 2025. But Houshan’s speech attracted attention, as he said that he would be “re-elected for a third term.” “His tenure in my home, and in my community, is the greatest honor,” he said, but he did not mention his party or the prime minister.