Huw Merriman, a transport minister, said constituents were complaining to him about “older news about former prime ministers”.Īsked if the poor showing was Mr Johnson and Ms Truss’s fault, Mr Merriman said: “Certainly, on the doorsteps the feedback I got was that we are in a better place. What people want us to do is focus on their priorities.” “I am not detecting any massive groundswell of movement towards the Labour Party or excitement for their agenda. Responding to the results yesterday morning, Mr Sunak said: “It is always disappointing to lose hard-working Conservative councillors. Mr Sunak is facing a growing backlash after preemptively blaming the losses on the “box-set drama” that engulfed the Conservatives during the premierships of Boris Johnson and Liz Truss, instead of addressing the party’s current problems. Senior Conservative cabinet ministers are now looking nervously over their shoulders at the Lib Dems.” “This is the Michael Portillo moment of these local elections. Other prominent Conservatives with Surrey seats include Jeremy Hunt and Dominic Raab.Ī party source said: “Lib Dems have won big in Michael Gove’s backyard of Surrey Heath, taking control from the Conservatives. Sir Ed’s party are hopeful of taking a swathe of “Blue Wall” seats from Tory heartlands at the next election. On Friday in what the Liberal Democrats called the “Portillo moment” of the election, the party took control of Michael Gove’s local council of Surrey Heath. With all but two seats declared, the Conservatives were on a total of 2,287 councillors and 33 councils, while Labour were on 2,652 councillors and 71 councils, and the Liberal Democrats 1,615 councillors and 29 councils. The Liberal Democrats gained 12 councils and 416 councillors. Meanwhile, Sir Ed Davey, the Liberal Democrats leader, refused to rule out joining Labour in coalition if there is a hung parliament.Īs of 2.30am on Saturday morning, the Conservatives had lost 960 councillors and lost control of 48 councils, while Labour had gained 635 seats and gained 22 councils. While Sir Keir Starmer declared that his party’s “fantastic” results showed Labour was on course to win the next general election, some pollsters said Sir Keir had not done enough to be confident of outright victory. The Prime Minister admitted the outcome had been “disappointing”, but said he did not believe there had been a “massive groundswell of movement towards the Labour Party”. Rishi Sunak is facing a growing backlash after 1,000 Tory councillors were on track to lose their seats as he suffered a disastrous set of local elections on Friday.
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