Heavy loss to Boris Johnson in London

In UK local elections, the Prime Minister’s Conservative Party lost major local councils in London.

TookThe Labor opposition in London won the local councils of Westminster, in the hands of the Tories since its creation in 1964, Barnett as well as former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s “preferred council”. London’s Labor Mayor Sadiq Khan hailed the “historic” victory.

Labor also won Southampton (southern England), but outside the capital, Labor has so far been making only limited profits, while smaller parties, the Liberal Democrats and the Greens, are pulling out. good results.

election after partygate scandal

Although traditionally marked by very local issues and low turnout, these elections, which took place on Thursday, should make it possible to measure the extent of damage from the holiday scandal, particularly during the imprisonment in Downing Street, a long-standing affair. Boris Johnson has been fined.

In power for 12 years, the Conservatives have also been criticized for insufficient support for inflation-stricken households, which according to the central bank should reach more than 10% this year.

On Twitter, former Conservative prime minister Theresa May’s chief of staff Gavin Barwell called the loss of Wandworth and Westminster “devastating” and a “warning shot”.

Boris Johnson’s popularity wanes

Conservative Party chairman Oliver Dowden sought to temper these “difficult results” by placing them in line with what could be expected from the midterm election.

If the poor results put some lawmakers at risk to withdraw their confidence in Boris Johnson, the party leader said on Sky News that the Tories should put Boris Johnson in charge.

The popularity of Boris Johnson, 57, soon collapsed after “Partygate” in Downing Street. He has weathered the storm so far, highlights his key role in driving Western support for Ukraine, and says he is determined to stay in power and lead the fight for the next legislative elections in 2024.

Labour, the main opposition party, hopes to take advantage of its weaknesses, even though its leader, Keir Starmer, 59, was accused last year of breaking health rules by sharing beer and curry with his team.

For now, results from just a third of the 200 local councils in the game have fallen.

Other results pending

Expected morning in Scotland and Wales, counting of votes began in Northern Ireland, where the 90 elected members of Stormont’s local assembly are renewed. The first results are expected on Friday afternoon, but the counting of votes in the complex Northern Irish system must continue on Saturday or beyond.

In Northern Ireland, a political earthquake is looming: elections give Sinn Féin the lead in a local assembly for the first time in the British province’s hundred-year history, strained since Brexit.

A victory for Sinn Féin, a former political demonstration of the paramilitary Irish Republican Army (IRA), would see its vice-president Michel O’Neill take over as head of local government, to be jointly led by nationalists and federalists. Under the 1998 peace agreement.

This would initiate a possible redefinition of the United Kingdom: the party advocates reunification with the Republic of Ireland, even though it has withdrawn the claim in favor of social issues facing ultra-conservative federalists.