Sunak under pressure amid dire local election results for his party

London: British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s leadership is under severe pressure on Friday as the results of local elections and a crucial by-election poured in overnight, delivering what is being characterised as one of the worst poll outcomes for the governing Conservative Party in 40 years.

In a sliver of hope, Tory Mayor Ben Houchen was re-elected for a third term in Tees Valley and gave his party leader something to cheer about amid results Sunak admitted have been “disappointing”.

But rebels from within his party are expected to renew their attacks on the British Indian leader after the Opposition Labour Party made definitive gains, including overturning the Tory majority in the Blackpool South by-election which was necessitated following a resignation amid a lobbying row. Labour Leader Sir Keir Starmer declared the result as a “seismic” victory and an overall poll verdict in favour of the party as it comes on the eve of a general election, expected later this year.

“Blackpool speaks for the whole country...This is the one contest where voters had the chance to send a message to Rishi Sunak’s Conservatives directly, and that message is an overwhelming vote for change,” said Starmer of the by-election.

“The message to Rishi Sunak is clear. It’s time for change, it’s time for a general election,” he said.

The Labour candidate in Blackpool South, Chris Webb, defeated Conservative David Jones in the constituency which the Tories had won from Labour under former prime minister Boris Johnson in 2019. The swing of 26 per cent from the Tories to Labour has been characterised as the third biggest in a by-election since 1945.

“We’re probably looking at certainly one of the worst, if not the worst, Conservative performance in local government elections for the last 40 years,” eminent pollster Professor John Curtice told the BBC.

The by-election took place alongside local elections around England and Wales, in which voters elected their local councillors who manage day to day issues such as waste collection, roads and local infrastructure as well as crime fighting. “I know that come with the general election they’re (voters) going to stick with us because they don’t want to be taken for granted. They know that it’s you and the Conservatives that are building a brighter future for Teesside and a brighter future for Britain,” said Sunak as he joined the victorious Mayor Ben Houchen in Tees Valley, northern England.