London’s Mayor, Sadiq Khan, secured a historic third term on Saturday, dealing a huge blow to the UK’s ruling Conservative Party. With over a million votes, Khan won by a substantial margin, receiving nearly 44% of the vote and putting him 11 percentage points ahead of his main challenger, Susan Hall from the Conservative Party.
While Khan performed well in inner London, he struggled in several outer boroughs. The local election results have been disastrous for the ruling Tories, with the party losing over 450 councilors and 10 councils.
By late afternoon Saturday, with most of the 2,661 seats up for grabs in the local elections counted, the Tories had lost around half of the 1,000 seats they were defending.
Labour victories in key UK mayoral polls deal fresh blow to Sunak (Credits: DW)
Labour leader Keir Starmer called for a general election, stating that the results showed the country was “fed up with decline, chaos, and division” under the Conservative government.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who belongs to the ruling Conservative Party, is under pressure to outline his plan for the next general election, which must be held before January 28 next year at the latest.
Despite the defeat, Sunak struck a defiant note, saying that voters would “stick with us” in a general election. However, national polls suggest Labour is 20 percentage points ahead of the Conservatives in terms of general election choices. If replicated in a nationwide contest, Labour would win 34% of the vote, with the Tories trailing by nine points.
Sadiq Khan Re-elected Mayor of London (Credits: The New York Times)
The Liberal Democrats and the Green Party also made gains, as did Reform UK, which is trying to take voters from the Conservatives on the right. However, there appears to be no apparent moves among Tories to replace Sunak, which would be challenging to do in time for an election campaign. Sunak has previously stated that he was eyeing a vote in the “second half of 2024.”
The election results have big implications for the future of the Conservative Party and the country. With a general election looming, the Tories face an uphill battle to regain voter confidence.
Labour, on the other hand, is poised to make huge gains and potentially take power. The outcome will have far-reaching consequences for the UK’s political landscape and its future direction.
