A series of devastating blows for Rishi Sunak in the local elections: Labor won a bitter battle to wrest the West Midlands mayoralty from the Tories and Sadiq Khan beat his Tory rival in London to secure a third term.
Sadiq Khanthe Labor mayor of London, was victorious on Saturday, securing a third consecutive term in City Hall, on another hugely disappointing day for the UK’s ruling Conservatives ahead of the general election imminent.
Khan won just over a million votes, almost 44% of the vote, more than 11 percentage points ahead of his main challenger, Susan Hall of the Conservative Party. It was particularly successful in central London, but struggled in several outer boroughs.
Khan, who replaced Boris Johnson as London mayor in 2016 by becoming the first Muslim mayor of the British capitalis an increasingly controversial figure in recent years.
While his supporters claim that he has multiple achievements to his credit, such as the expansion of housing constructionthere free school meals for young children, THE transport costs under control and his support for minority groups of London, Khan’s critics point to a increase in crime in the capital, its “anti-car” policy and its contested decision to allow Pro-Palestinian marches becoming a regular weekend event.
Labor victories in several Tory strongholds deal another blow to Rishi Sunak
While Khan’s re-election as London mayor was widely expected, Labor also won a surprise and close victory in the central West Midlands regionhome to Birmingham, Britain’s second largest city.
These results, along with decisive victories for Andy Burnham in Greater Manchester, Steve Rotheram in Liverpool and Tracy Brabin in West Yorkshire, left the Labor at the head of most town halls in England.
The leader of the Labor Party Keir Starmer said the result was beyond all expectations. “People across the country have had enough of the chaos and decline of the Tories and have voted for change with Labor” he said in a statement.
Opinion polls predict that Labor will win the next national election, propelling Keir Starmer to power and ending 14 years of Conservative rule in Britain. Rishi Sunak said he intended to call a vote in the second half of the year.
The latest Opinium poll for the Observer shows a further drop in Sunak’s personal approval rating, which fell another six points from a fortnight ago, to -40. The note of Starmer remained stable at -9. Overall, it shows Labor maintaining a 16-point lead over the Conservatives.