The UK prime minister Boris Johnson and his Conservative Party faced losses at the local elections held earlier this week as results poured in. News agency the BBC reported that the Tories lost almost 500 seats and control of 11 councils.
Boris Johnson admitted that it was a ‘tough’ night while arguing that the results were mixed. His detractors within the party along with a few local leaders have expressed their displeasure with respect to the ‘partygate’ scandal saying that they faced questions while campaigning regarding it.
Conservative Party strongholds Wandsworth, Westminster and Barnet fell to the Labour Party after decades of being under Tory control. The Labour Party made significant gains in London but struggled to make major gains in rural England.
The local elections which allow voters to choose councillors are an important election since these lawmakers make decisions which are vital to the daily life of a person living in the UK. These lawmakers decide ‘everything from bins, bus routes and potholes, to providing mental health services, deciding planning applications and managing schemes to tackle climate change’, according to a BBC report.
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Even though the results of the local polls are indicative, a BBC projection shared by editor Laura Kuenssberg on Twitter projected that if a General Election were to be held in the UK then the Labour Party would win 291 seats, the Conservatives would win 253 seats, the Liberal Democrats would win 31 seats while independents and other parties could win 75 seats.
A party needs to win more than 324 seats to become the majority party.
Labour leader Keir Starmer said that the results are a ‘turning point’ for his party and exuded confidence that come general elections, the Labour may be able to upset Johnson and the Tories.
The Tories, however, found little pleasure once UK police announced that Keir Starmer would be investigated for allegedly not following Covid-19 protocols. Despite this some within the Conservative Party are mulling to introduce no-confidence letters for the prime minister.
“There’s a tide that’s flowing that’s unstoppable. Something has got to happen,” Roger Gale, the first Tory to announce no confidence in Mr Johnson, told news agency the Independent. It will take 54 Tory MPs to send letters of no-confidence in order to trigger a leadership challenge.
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