Britain’s governing Conservative Party suffered heavy losses in local election results Friday, further cementing expectations that the Labour Party will return to power after 14 years in a U.K. general election that will take place in the coming months.
Labour won control of councils in England it hasn’t held for decades and was successful in a special by-election for Parliament that, if repeated in the general election, would lead to one of the Conservatives′ biggest-ever defeats.
In the contest, triggered by the resignation of a Conservative lawmaker following a lobbying scandal, Labour’s Chris Webb secured 10,825 votes, to his second-placed Conservative opponent’s 3,218. The swing from Conservative to Labour, at 26%, was the third biggest since World War II, that would be more than enough to see the party return to power for the first time since it was ejected in 2010.
Thursday’s elections in large parts of England were important in themselves, with voters deciding who will run many aspects of their daily lives, such as garbage collection, road maintenance and local crime prevention, in the coming years. But with a general election looming, they are being viewed through a national prism.
As of Friday lunchtime, with over a quarter of the 2,661 seats up for grabs counted, the Conservatives were down 136 while Labour was up 61. Other parties, such as the centrist Liberal Democrats and the Green Party are also making gains.
