No amount of positive spin on the horror result can mask the fact that British voters are waiting with cricket bats for a 14-year-old government,with the Conservatives losing close to 500 council seats as well as the Blackpool South parliamentary byelection on a 26 per cent swing to Labour.
Putting on a brave face … British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.Getty
Analysis of the votes across the country put the Tories at a record-low 25 per cent projected national vote share,with the party overtaken by the Liberal Democrats in the number of council seats for the first time since 1996.
While it remains unclear whether Labour could form a majority in its own right,the Conservatives now seem incapable of avoiding a hammering.
But after weeks of speculation of a move against him,it appears even Sunak’s colleagues have lost hope that changing the leader could do anything ahead of the general election,due by the end of the year.
Former home secretary Suella Braverman regrets backing Sunak,she says.Getty
Speaking to the BBC,Suella Braverman – whom Sunak sacked as home secretary last year – said many of her colleagues were “privately demoralised and incredibly concerned about their prospects”.
“At this rate,we’ll be lucky to have any Conservative MPs at the next election,and we need to fight,” she said.
Asked if she wanted to see a change in leader,Braverman said:“I just don’t think that is a feasible prospect right now,we don’t have enough time and it is impossible for anyone new to come and change our fortunes to be honest.
“Rishi Sunak has been leading us for about 18 months,he has been making these decisions,these are consequences of those decisions. He needs to own this,and therefore he needs to fix it.”
In the 18 months since he replaced,Sunak has lost seven parliamentary by-election elections,tens of MPs,and back-to-back local elections.
A one-time Goldman Sachs banker whose wife,Akshata Murthy,is the daughter of an Indian technology billionaire,Sunak has struggled to come across as a relatable figure.
He has been lampooned for his amateur and cringe-worthy social media attempts and his decisions to wear $900 Prada suede loafers to a construction site.
National polls show Labour leading the Conservatives by more than 20 percentage points,a stubborn gap that the prime minister has been unable to close.
In a message to voters ahead of the local elections,Sunak said they would have a choice between “a plan versus no plan,bold principled action versus U-turns and prevarication,a clear record of delivery versus political game playing.”
London mayoral candidate Count Binface reacts after the results were announced in the London mayoral election. He received 24,260 votes. Labour Mayor Sadiq Khan was elected for a third time.Getty
But asked if she regretted supporting Sunak’s bid for the Conservative leadership,Braverman said:“Honestly,yes I do”.
“The plan is not working and I despair at these terrible results,” she said. “I love my country,I care about my party and I want us to win,and I am urging the prime minister to change course,to,with humility,reflect on what the voters are telling us,and change the plan and the way that he is communicating and leading us.”
The defeat by Labour of Andy Street,the popular Tory mayor of West Midlands,by just 1508 votes has also caused psychological damage to the party,with one Conservative MP calling it “an inflection point”.
Street,a former chief executive of the John Lewis department store chain,had held the post for two terms and during the campaign did everything he could to dissociate himself from the Conservatives.
And despite speculation that the mayoral contest in London could be tight,Labour’s Sadiq Khan won a third term by taking a 43.8 per cent share of the vote,easily seeing off Conservative Susan Hall,who won 32.7 per cent.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer speaks following Labour candidate for West Midlands Mayor Richard Parker’s victory in Birmingham.Getty
There remain some questions for Labour and its leader,Sir Keir Starmer,as it was clear that the party was punished in parts of the country by Muslim voters,a sign its stance on the Israel-Gaza war is affecting its support.
In 58 local council wards analysed by the BBC,where more than one in five residents identify as Muslim,Labour’s share of the vote was 21 per cent down on 2021,the last time most seats were contested.
George Galloway’s strongly pro-Palestinian Workers Party of Britain won four council seats – two in Rochdale,one in Calderdale and one in Manchester,where they ousted the Labour deputy leader of the council,Luthfur Rahman.
But,for now,Labour can afford to put its problems aside for another day. It’s Sunak who has to decide if his premiership ends with a bang or a whimper.
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