The Conservative wipeout in UK elections could signal a bigger loss

The Conservative Party faced the first big test of its popularity in Britain since Rishi Sunak took over as Prime Minister in October and they failed it spectacularly. But does the Tories' big political wipeout in the local elections signal a bigger loss? 

The United Kingdom’s local elections didn't decide the fate of the country’s next leader but they were a very important gauge of how well each party is doing among British voters. 

“Local elections are the biggest test of political opinion in England ahead of the next general election,” wrote Chief Political Correspondent Nick Eardly of BBC News in the days before voting started. 

Eardly noted that there were more than 8000 seats up in the air and that voters would be casting their ballots on a wide variety of issues on everything from potholes to local tax rates. 

However, the concern on every political onlooker’s mind at the time was whether or not Sunak would be able to stabilize his party after the disastrous resignations of its previous two leaders. 

The exit of Boris Johnson was far less harmful than that of Liz Truss and voters were likely to remember the financial cliff that was staring them in the face in October 2022. 

According to a New York Times article from the period, Truss left Britain rudderless after her failed economic policies pushed the country into another phase of financial uncertainty. 

It was the aftermath of the former Prime Ministers' policies that were likely to be the most important thing Sunak and the Tories had to overcome, and early polls predicted things would go very poorly for the Conservative Party. 

Experts had predicted for weeks that the Conservative Party was probably going to lose a large number of elections with estimates coalescing around roughly 1000 seats. 

“If you look at the independent commentators, the independent experts in this case, all the very respected ones, they are forecasting… we might lose 1,000 seats,” British Transport Minister Mark Harper told Sky News according to the Evening Standard.

The Evening Stared added that Harper pointed to the war in Ukraine as well as the dual crises of runaway inflation and pandemic recovery as issues working against a Tory victory.

The sentiment was probably widespread amongst the British populace as their country continued to struggle in ways that weren't affecting any other G7 nation at this time. 

According to the International Monetary Fund, the British economy is set to shrink by at least 0.3% this year before growing by 1% next year, meaning the island nation’s economy would be the worst-performing G7 nation in 2023 according to a Yahoo Finance report. 

“Voters are sick to their back teeth with this Conservative Government’s terrible record,” said the leader of the Liberal Democrats, Sir Davey Ed as noted by the Evening Standard before the election. “They have failed the nation on the cost of living, local health services, and sewage dumping.”

“People feel it’s time for a change,” Sir Ed added. “We are seeing former Conservative voters in open revolt against this Government with more and more turning to the Liberal Democrats in former true blue heartlands.”

The leader of Britain's Liberal Democrats was only half right in his assessment that British voters wanted a change. The Conservatives lost 48 councils and well over 1000 seats according to BBC News, which journalists Joshua Nevett and Brian Wheeler said "exceed worst expectations." But most of the gains went to the Labour Party.

"The British public has sent a clear rejection of a prime minister who never had a mandate to begin with," a Labour spokesperson said according to the BBC. Sir Ed and his Liberal Democrats did have a very good showing and took control of 12 councils and pick up 408 new councilors. But Labour netted 22 councils and 563 councilors.

Rishi Sunak's Conservative Party took a heavy beating in the local elections and the loss could very well be a harbinger of what’s to come in the next national election. The Conservative Party has held power since 2010 and it seems the British public many be hungry for a change...