Rishi Sunak has dismissed calls to change course after poor local election results, arguing he can make “progress” with voters before a general election.
Speaking for the first time since the full scale of Tory losses was revealed, the prime minister called losing 470 councillors “bitterly disappointing”. Tory critics have called on Mr Sunak to shift the party to the right.
But Mr Sunak told The Times newspaper he was “determined that we will come together as a party. The Conservatives are licking their wounds after a string of local election defeats. After the final votes were counted on Sunday, the Tories had lost control of 10 councils, more than 470 council seats and a totemic loss of West Midlands mayor Andy Street.
The party also lost 10 Police and Crime Commissioners to Labour, marking a potentially significant blow for the Conservatives if they aim to centre their next general election campaign on law and order.
Appearing to concede for the first time that his party could be on course to lose its majority, Mr Sunak said the local election results “suggest we are heading for a hung parliament with Labour as the largest party”.
The prime minister told The Times: “Keir Starmer propped up in Downing Street by the SNP, Liberal Democrats and the Greens would be a disaster for Britain.
“The country does not need more political horse trading, but action. He added: “There is work to do and more progress to be made and I am determined that we will come together as a party and show the British people we are delivering for them.”
His comments reflect analysis by leading psephologist Prof Michael Thrasher for Sky News – which suggested Labour would win 294 seats at a general election.
The projection, which has been dismissed by some polling experts, used the local election results to project a nationwide estimate of vote share at a general election.
It assumes everyone would vote in the same way at a general election as they did in last week’s local elections, when smaller parties and independent candidates tend to do better in local elections.
It also does not take account of what could happen in Scotland, instead using the results of the 2019 general election, while Labour are expected to do much better there this year.
Source: People
In other news – Bad night for Tories as Labour wins Blackpool South and makes local gains
Labour has taken Blackpool South from the Conservatives in a by-election as Sir Keir Starmer’s party makes gains in polls across England. Sir Keir said the Blackpool result – a massive 26% swing to Labour – sent “a direct message” to Rishi Sunak from voters that “we want change”.
The Tories were expected to have a bad night at local council elections and so far have lost around half the seats they were defending. Read more
