In a precursor to the next parliamentary elections in England, the local elections have dealt a crushing blow to the Labour Party.
[British Prime Minister] Gordon Brown today acknowledged a “bad night” for Labour after the party’s national share of the vote plummeted to 24% – its lowest level since the 1960s – in his first electoral test as prime minister.
With about two thirds of the results declared, the Conservatives had 44% of the national share of the vote – enough to give David Cameron a landslide majority if it were replicated in a general election.
The Liberal Democrats, on 25% of the vote, pushed Labour into third place for only the second time in their history.
In what could be a further blow for Brown, Labour and Tory sources were both privately predicting that the Conservative candidate, Boris Johnson, would be elected mayor of London when the results of the mayoral contest are announced this afternoon.
Turnout in London was estimated to be 45%, better than in the previous two mayoral elections in the city.
That last bit is huge.
The Conservatives are now privately very confident that Johnson, the Henley MP whose candidature was initially dismissed as a joke when it was announced last year, will beat Livingstone.
Filed under: Conservatism, International Politics
