Britain’s opposition Labor party won Thursday’s by-election in the Blackpool South constituency, wresting a parliamentary seat from the ruling Conservatives. The left is also doing significantly better than the ruling party in the ongoing count of local elections, which are considered to be the last major test of voter sentiment before this year’s parliamentary elections.
Labor candidate Chris Webb won 58.9 percent of the vote, while his conservative rival David Jones only got 17.5 percent, according to results published by British media. In 2019, the conservative Scott Benton triumphed in this district, but he gave up his mandate prematurely after last year’s corruption scandal.
According to the media, compared to the last election, 26 percent of voters switched from the Conservatives to Labor, which is one of the most significant overflows of sympathy in many years. The Conservatives have long trailed in the polls and suffered heavy defeats in several other parliamentary by-elections in recent months. Further losses are expected to increase pressure on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to leave office early.
Labor’s triumph is also indicated by the interim results of the municipal elections. In them, the English elect over 2,500 members of municipal councils. Labour’s Sadiq Khan is expected to defend the post of mayor of London, securing a third term in office. Labor is also likely to remain in charge in Manchester and Liverpool.
Rather than the big cities, the focus is on the West Midlands and Tees Valley regions in central and north-east England, where regional Tory mayors Andy Street and Ben Houchen are seeking re-election. They defend the posts at a time when the Conservative Party is performing its worst in national polls in decades, with its preferences falling below 20 percentage points.
Tags: British left won seat byelection
