UK’s Labour Party likely to regain key regions in Thursday’s local elections

By Mehmet Solmaz

BIRMINGHAM, England (AA) – Seven out of 10 people in England will be heading to the polls Thursday to vote in local elections, with more than 8,000 seats in 230 councils up for grabs across the country, excluding London and some western regions.

According to the latest survey by the British market research and data analytics firm YouGov, the opposition Labour Party is making strong advances in areas currently held by the ruling Conservative Party, namely Darlington, Dudley, Swindon, Plymouth, and Worcester.

In the previous local elections held in May 2019, the Conservative Party lost over a thousand seats and control of several councils while the Liberal Democrats managed to make the most gains at their expense, holding 704 seats and four councils.

Alongside the Green Party, some areas witnessed successes by independent candidates. Currently, five district councils in Kent, Sussex and Surrey have a leader who is independent or belongs to a residents’ association.

- Labour wants previous Red Wall support

Seven months after the local polls in 2019, the Conservatives won a landslide victory in the general election, getting 43.6% of the popular vote – the highest percentage for any party since 1979. Many of their gains were made in long-held Labour seats dubbed the “Red Wall,” which had registered a strong “Leave” vote in the 2016 EU referendum.

Now with the favorability of the ruling party in decline, the Labour Party is looking to regain public support in areas which it still sees as its stronghold.

The latest YouGov voting intention poll shows the Conservatives with 27% of the vote to Labour’s 41%. Elsewhere, the Liberal Democrats have 11% of the vote, while the Greens and Reform UK have 7% each.

Andrew Coffey, a resident of Sandwell, told Anadolu that he has already voted by mail and believes that the election will result in Labour’s lead in the Red Wall areas, claiming that the country’s last two prime ministers, both of whom resigned from their posts last year, had brought the country to a troubled state.

“Boris Johnson – you couldn’t get a bigger fool than him as a prime minister in the country, could you? And then Liz Truss comes in. Obviously, they were bigger fools. They’re complete shambles, the Tory party,” Coffey said.

- Lib Dems eyeing to hold onto previous gains

While the two major parties see local elections as a preparation for the next general elections, which are scheduled to be held in 2025, the Liberal Democrats are looking to not lose the major gains they have made in the previous polls.

The party, which is known for its strong anti-Brexit stance, has performed strongly in the last two local election rounds. They are hoping to continue the trend, particularly in areas where they hope to challenge the Conservatives.

Councilor Richard Jones, who is running for Old Warley ward, told Anadolu that he and his party members had been actively campaigning for a long time. Jones said he is pleased with the reactions shown by the public during their doorstep visits in his electoral area.

Jones said people talk to them about local issues but also about problems on a national scale, claiming there has been a swing from the Conservatives due to “mismanagement of the country.”

“Then also you need a strong opposition as well. Whether Labour is providing that strong opposition at the moment, I’m not sure. I don’t know whether people on the doorstep visits are seeing Labour as a credible new government. This is why, as a Liberal Democrat, it is quite nice to speak to people and to show people there is an alternative to Labour in government,” Jones said, adding there has been a record number of people joining the party in the past year in Sandwell.

Liberal Democrat Morriam Jan, the councilor for Perry Barr ward, is supporting Jones with his campaign.

“We work all year round, not just during election time,” she told Anadolu.

Jan is optimistic over the outcome of local elections, which she says has a lot to do with people’s everyday lives.

“I’ve got positive hopes, ambitions and goals. Nationally, things do need to change because we had the Tories run the government, which they still are, which people are annoyed about, and I can talk to you hours on that. Then we’ve got the Labour Party that are making all these promises and so forth. But hang on — why not give the Liberals the opportunity, because we’re liberal for a reason. We care about and we’re passionate about our communities.”

The cost of living crisis and post-pandemic socioeconomic situation should be paid attention to while voting, Jan stressed while calling people to vote for her party.