Rishi Sunak was warned not to drift to the right after his party suffered defeats in local elections in England’s two biggest cities.
Labour’s Sadiq Khan was victorious in London, but the West Midlands poll, which the Conservatives were on track to win, was seen as a potential lifeline for Sunak in otherwise local election results disastrous: the party also lost almost 400 seats in the council.
The Prime Minister had hoped a pair of victories – alongside Lord Ben Houchen’s as Tees Valley mayor – would be enough to fend off backbench Tory rebels. But Andy Street’s defeat in the West Midlands risks once again increasing the pressure on his leadership.
On Saturday, Sunak acknowledged the “disappointing” results but, in a message apparently to rebel backbenchers, added that they had “redoubled their determination to continue to advance our plan”.
However, Andy Street, the outgoing Conservative mayor of the West Midlands, warned Sunak not to “drift” to the right and that “winning from the center is what happens”.
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Minister: Conservatives can still win
Transport Secretary Mark Harper insisted the Conservatives still had a chance of winning the next general election, despite the party’s disappointing local elections.
He told Sky News: “These results are disappointing, but the fact is they demonstrate… that Labor is not on track to achieve this majority, Keir Starmer has not concluded the agreement with the public.
“So that means there is a fight to be had, the Prime Minister is ready to fight, I am ready for that fight, and I know the Conservative Party is ready to do it.”
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Two cards that will make grim reading for Rishi Sunak
Results at town hall…
(PENNSYLVANIA) …and the results of the board
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Conservative standing in the public eye has reached new depths – John Curtice
Rishi Sunak pictured on Friday. (PENNSYLVANIA) When Thursday’s vote was postponed in 2016, the Conservatives also lost ground. They nevertheless won 30 percent of the contested seats. This time they only got 20 percent, even less than the Liberal Democrats.
It is perhaps the clearest indication of the depth to which the party’s standing in the public eye has now fallen, just six months at most after a general election.
Read it analysis by elections expert Sir Prof John Curtice in The Telegraph
