2022 local election: Critics turn on Boris Johnson as Conservatives lose nearly 500 council seats

Conservative MPs are weighing the consequences after a “tough night” for Boris Johnson in his first test at the polls since being fined for breaching lockdown rules.

The Conservatives lost almost 500 seats in England, Wales and Scotland in Thursday’s local elections, with local leaders citing the party and the cost of living crisis as key issues around the corner.

The losses, as of 1am Saturday, comprise 338 in England, 62 in Scotland and 81 in Wales.

Conservatives lose nearly 500 seats: Election live

Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi downplayed the losses when he told Sky News it was all part of dealing with a mid-term vote.

He insisted that Boris Johnson remained an electoral asset and said that the Conservatives have a plan to tackle the cost of living and rising energy costs, although he added that the Labor Party does not.

Sky News analysis suggests that if the result were replicated in a general election, the Conservatives would lose their majority in the House of Commons.

Labor took control of former Conservative strongholds such as the London boroughs of Westminster and Wandsworth, as well as seizing Southampton and Worthing on the south coast.

But their success has not been replicated in parts of the Midlands and the North, where they need to win back seats the Tories took in Johnson’s landslide victory in the 2019 general election.

Labour’s electoral success was also marred after Durham police announced that they would investigate whether leader Sir Keir Starmer broke COVID rules while drinking with colleagues in April 2021.

Sir Keir said there was no party and that he was “sure no rules were broken” during the episode, which was dubbed “beergate”.

Check the result where you live

Meanwhile, the Liberal Democrats enjoyed success in councils across the country, from Somerset to Hull.

In Wales, the Conservatives lost ground to Labor and the Liberal Democrats; while the SNP enjoyed another triumph in Scotland with Labor pushing the Conservatives into third place.

Johnson said, “We had a rough night in some parts of the country, but on the other hand, in other parts of the country, you still see the Conservatives moving forward and making some pretty remarkable gains.”

Positives for his party included taking control of the London Borough of Harrow and consolidating his hold on Nuneaton, an area that will be a key battleground for the general election.

But a southern Conservative MP told Sky News the situation was “pretty grim”.

“The Prime Minister is to blame, no one else, and now there are 19 Conservative MPs from London who will be crying for blood.

“The prime minister is killing our traditional vote.”

Johnson ‘needs to find a way to restore confidence’

Separately, David Simmonds, the Conservative MP for Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner, said the issue of Downing Street breaking lockdown rules kept coming up at the door.

“He (Mr Johnson) needs to find a way to restore confidence in government and I think there are a number of ways he could do that,” he said.

“A change of leader would be one of them. Alternatively, you need to show what the alternative plan would be.”

But Johnson’s allies warned it was not time to change leaders, insisting Labor’s gains fell short of what was needed for the party to secure a general election victory.

A ‘huge turning point’ for Labor

Sir Keir said the results represented a “major turning point for the Labor Party”.

“From the depths of 2019, we are back on track now for the general election, showing the change that we have made, the hard change that we have made in the last two years, the difference that it has made,” he said. saying.

Emily Thornberry, Labour’s shadow attorney general, told Sky News: “We still have a mountain to climb, we’re not pretending we don’t.

“We’re back, and we’re on the right track to become the next government.”

Read more:
Analysis: Crumbs of comfort for the PM and rays of hope for Labour, but the Lib Dems are the clear winners
Analysis: Signs of a Lib Dem revival may worry Conservative MPs more than Labor gains in London

Labor described the results as “shattering” for the Conservatives, adding that they represented a rejection of Johnson.

A party spokesman said: “The question every decent Conservative will ask is how much more are they willing to fall in love with a man who never fails to put his own interest above his councillors, his MPs, his party and his country.” .”

PM faces ‘almighty shock wave’

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said the prime minister was facing an “almighty shockwave that will topple this Conservative government”.

Speaking to Kay Burley of Sky News, he insisted that the Lib Dem gains were not anti-government protest votes but “a real trend now”, in part because the Tories are “failing so badly”.