In addition to the local elections held on Thursday, it also lost the seat to the Labor Party in the parliamentary by-election in the city of Blackpool.
Here, while the Conservative Party lost 32 percent of the votes compared to the 2019 election, Labor Party candidate Chris Webb won the seat of parliament with nearly 59 percent of the votes.
MESSAGE TO RISHI SUNAK
Labor Party leader Keir Starmer described the win here as “the most important result of the night”.
Starmer said voters had sent a “message we want change” to Rishi Sunak with the different result in Blackpool.
Starmer said, “This is not just a little message, this is not just a murmur, this is a cry from Blackpool, we want change. And Blackpool speaks on behalf of the whole country, saying enough is enough.”
Speaking at noon, Sunak stated that the results were still coming in, but admitted that they were “disappointing” and said: “I am focused on producing results for the people of this country.”
Sunak was preparing for a bad night on Thursday in terms of election results, but it is assessed that the loss of important municipalities and the large vote shift to Labor in Blackpool will put new pressure on his leadership.
In public opinion polls, the Conservative Party seemed to have lost a large share of votes for a long time. The Labor Party is expected to win this year’s general elections.
BLOOD LOSS IN THE CONSERVATIVE PARTY
In local elections held on Thursday, 107 councils across England voted to elect city council members for a four-year term.
While the results are known in just over a third of the municipalities, counting continues in the others. Labor is leading the race.
According to the results announced so far, the Labor Party has increased the number of municipal council membership by 60, while the Conservative Party seems to have lost 150 seats.
RESULTS WILL BE CLEAR ON SATURDAY
In addition to the metropolitan mayoralty of London, the capital of England, mayoral elections were held in 10 municipalities.
Sadık Khan, who has served as Mayor of London for the last two terms, became the Labor Party’s candidate for the third term and competed against 12 candidates, including Conservative Party candidate Susan Hall.
The results are expected to become clear on Saturday.
GAZA IMPACT
However, the Labor Party also seems to have suffered losses, especially in areas where Muslim voters are concentrated.
The party management’s statements about the Gaza war caused a reaction in some segments of the Labor Party, especially among its Muslim voters.
In regions where 10 percent of the population is Muslim, the Labor Party lost 8 percent of the votes compared to last year.
Earlier this year he lost control of Oldham council in Greater Manchester, where two councilors left the party over Gaza.
Campaign coordinator Pat McFadden acknowledged that Gaza was a factor in this outcome.
