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Tory local election losses a rejection of Sunak say Labour

By David Laycock • 06 May 2023 • 15:21

Tory local election losses a rejection of Sunak say Labour

Tory local election losses a rejection of Sunak say Labour Image Credit: Rupert Rive /shutterstock

As Conservatives suffer heavy losses at local council elections, the Labour Party have described it as a clear rejection of Rishi Sunak’s premiership. 

With the Conservatives losing 48 councils and over 1,00o councillors in England leaving many Tories angry at Mr Sunak, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer claimed his party were on course to win the next general election.

Despite the results, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was quoted by BBC Politics on Twitter as saying:

“I’m not detecting any massive groundswell of movement towards the Labour Party or excitement for their agenda.”

The Liberal Democrats and Green Party also made large gains in what were dismal local elections results for the Tories, who have struggled to fully stabilise themselves since the Brexit referendum, with numerous leadership and directional changes.

The results were met with some quite cynical reactions from Conservative commentators, with an unnamed source being quoted in the Sun as saying:

“In some areas we just didn’t see any Labour campaigning which helped the Lib Dems. It has just fuelled speculation that an electoral pact is brewing down the line.”

Labour have been accused in the past, notably by Tory MP Oliver Dowden, of having a ‘secret pact’ with the Liberal Democrats, but deny the possible alliance. Nonetheless, alliances with the Lib Dems previously saw Conservative ex-prime minister David Cameron stay in power.

Keir Starmer was quoted by BBC Politics on Twitter as saying: “We are on course for a Labour majority at the next general election,” adding: “Change is possible, a better Britain is possible”.

But commentators such as the BBC‘s political editor, Chris Mason saw the results differently than the understandably buoyant Labour leader.  He suggested that it would be difficult for either of the main English political parties to be sure of gaining a majority in the next general election.

Certainly, off the back of these results, we have seen a step in the right direction for Labour and a dip in fortunes for the Tories. But with a general election a way off yet, nothing is set in stone.

And in the case of the hung parliament that some have suggested possible, it would appear that the Labour Party are more likely to receive help to form a coalition than the increasingly isolated Conservative Party.

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Written by

David Laycock

Dave Laycock has always written. Poems, songs, essays, academic papers as well as newspaper articles; the written word has always held a great fascination for him and he is never happier than when being creative. From a musical background, Dave has travelled the world performing and also examining for a British music exam board. He also writes, produces and performs and records music. All this aside, he is currently fully focussed on his journalism and can’t wait to share more stories from around the world and beyond.

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