UK's Labour claim big early win over PM Sunak's Conservatives
World
UK's Labour claim big early win over PM Sunak's Conservatives
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's opposition Labour Party won a parliamentary seat in northern England on Friday and control of several councils, inflicting heavy losses on the governing Conservatives to pile more pressure on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
The thumping victory set the tone for what will be a closely watched two days of local results before a national election this year, which polling shows could put Labour leader Keir Starmer in power and end 14 years of Conservative government.
Voters cast their ballots on Thursday for more than 2,000 seats on local authorities across England and a handful of high-profile mayoral elections, including in the capital, London.
Blackpool South was the only parliamentary seat up for grabs after the Conservative lawmaker quit over a lobbying scandal.
Labour candidate Chris Webb won the Blackpool election with 10,825 votes. The Conservative candidate came in second with 3,218. The swing of 26% to Labour from the 2019 result was the third biggest in post-war by-election history, polling expert John Curtice said.
The defeat in Blackpool and early signs of deep losses at the council level will boost Labour's hopes for a sweeping victory over Sunak's Conservatives in the national election.
"This seismic win in Blackpool South is the most important result today," Starmer said.
"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."
The chairman of the Conservative Party said it had been "a tough night".
"Obviously not a great set of results," Richard Holden told Times Radio.
