Fall of Conservatives in UK Local Elections: How Significant It Is

After losing nearly 500 seats to their Labor Party rival, especially in the capital London, the British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that the local elections represented a "difficult night" for his party. Questions arise about the significance and the indications of this fall.

The BBC announced that Britain's ruling Conservative Party suffered major losses in the local elections, amounting to about 500 seats. The Tories lost the majority in 11 local councils in the country.

They lost their seats in Westminster for the first time since its founding in 1964, and also in Wandsworth, the Conservative stronghold and Margaret Thatcher's favorite council, as well as in Barnet.

The news agency stressed that the decline of the Conservatives in southern England favored the Liberal Democrats, and the ruling party lost a majority in key local councils in London to the opposition Labor Party.

Boris Johnson commented on the elections’ results: "We've had a tough night in some parts of the country, but on the other hand, in other parts of the country, you're still seeing Conservatives going forward and making quite remarkable gains."

The leader of the British opposition Labor Party, Keir Starmer, said that the results of the local elections were a turning point for the party, praising the gains that his party wrested in London from the "Conservatives" led by Johnson.

He told his supporters in London: "A great result, very impressive. Believe me, this is a huge turning point for us from the bottom of the (2019) general election."

 

Great Anger

In an interview with Al-Estiklal, Mostapha Khattabi researcher and expert on politics said: “The election results clearly reflect the British anger against the Conservatives. Despite the fact that local elections are linked to services at the local level, not laws and public policies, as the case of parliamentary elections.”

He continued: “However, the resounding fall of the conservatives reveals a state of distrust and frustration. Johnson is considered the first elected president to violate British law during his tenure, which is not acceptable to the British people.”

He stressed: “From the other side, this decline can be considered inevitable with the rise in the cost of living and the increase in inflation. The conservatives spent 12 years in power, and I think that these elections mark the beginning of their downfall.”

He concluded: “Yet, it should be noted that the losses encountered by the party were mainly in the major cities, with the heaviest losses occurring in London. As for the small towns far from the center, some of them still maintain their loyalty to the Conservative Party.”

It is not excluded that the Conservative Party MPs will decide in the coming days whether they will carry out their promised and expected "coup" against Johnson and put forward 54 letters of no-confidence, which is the number required for the vote on his impeachment.

Many Conservative candidates began their "rebellion" in the run-up to their election campaigns, belittling their party affiliation and presenting themselves as "local conservatives," disavowing the Downing Street scandals and asking voters to "not be punished" for Westminster's "mistakes.” Many also avoided attaching their posts to Johnson's photos.

The Guardian shed light on the fact that conservatives tried to lower expectations during the past weeks to make the results less bad. However, frustration was palpable among Conservative leaders who have called on the party's MPs to reflect on these losses and to remove Prime Minister Boris Johnson from his office.

 

Boris to Blame

Boris Johnson faced pressure with the announcement of the broader picture of the results of this election later on Friday, given the major defeats suffered by the party across the United Kingdom in addition to its heavy losses in London.

Bloomberg pointed out that all opinion polls indicate that Boris Johnson's crisis is no longer limited to his breach of the law and the repercussions of the Downing Street parties, but went beyond that to become a crisis of confidence in an RM who was described as a "liar.” This is in addition to the high cost of living and the prices of basic materials, fuel, gas, and taxes.

Although voters cast their ballots for local representatives responsible for issues such as planning and garbage collection, these local elections give Britons an opportunity to express their views on national issues and give parties a broader picture of their political future.

It is expected that the police will announce, after a few days, the results of their investigations into the "Downing Street parties,” and that new fines will be issued against the Prime Minister, which will increase the pressure on him, which has been exacerbating.

 

Labor Party’s Chance

Although the early results were bad for Johnson and his party, which lost a hundred seats in England, or one in six, they were not completely catastrophic, as the party was prepared for much worse results.

In addition to the fact that the Labor Party did not win a historic victory except in Westminster and Wandsworth, leading its leader, Keir Starmer, to describe the results as a "huge turning point.” Although the Labour Party has wrested Tory "bastions" in London, Southampton, and Cumberland, this "massive tipping point" alone will not guarantee a Labor majority in the next government election. Also, the results they obtained outside London were lower than the results of 2018. Starmer still has a lot to do to push his party into Downing Street.

Starmer has not yet fulfilled his wish to take back the “red wall” seats, as the Conservatives like to call it. Although their party is blue, their “coloring” of the wall red reminds them of their victory in 2019, after Johnson had the support of the majority in those areas famous for heavy industry and coal mines, and for their eagerness to leave the European Union.

Even though Johnson's party will retain the "red wall" seats in Parliament, the results show the shift of some voters in those areas to the Labour Party.

Based on the conservative nature of the residents of these areas, the words "lying,” "fraud" and "violating the law" appear to be major sins hard to forgive, which means that the conservatives have not yet secured the votes of the "red wall" in the upcoming elections.