UK: Tories lose ground as Sadiq Khan wins again in London

Sadiq Khan, the Labour Party's mayor of London, won a third straight term on Saturday, dealing yet another blow to the UK's ruling Conservative Party.

Khan won a little over a million votes, or nearly 44% of the vote, putting him over 11 percentage points ahead of his main challenger, the Conservative Party's Susan Hall. He did particularly well in inner London but struggled in several outer boroughs.

The local election held in the UK on Thursday is shaping up to be a heavy defeat for the ruling Tories. The Conservatives lost more than 450 councilors and 10 councils.

This means by late afternoon Saturday, with most of the 2,661 seats up for grabs in the local elections counted, the Tories had lost around half of the 1,000 seats they were defending.

There was a lot of speculation that the London mayor race result would be closer than previously thought, but Khan won more than 276,000 votes — representing a swing of 3.2% to Labour. He first became the first Muslim mayor of the UK capital in 2016.

Following his victory, Khan said it was the "honor of my life to serve the city that I love." He added: “Today’s not about making history, it’s about shaping our future."

Labour leader Starmer calls for general election

In contrast, Labour won councils that the party hasn't held for decades, regional mayorships, and a special election for the Blackpool South seat in parliament.

"Here in Blackpool, a message has been sent directly to the prime minister," Labour leader Keir Starmer said. "This was directly to Rishi Sunak to say we are fed up with your decline, your chaos and your division and we want change," Starmer added. "It's time for change, it's time for a general election."

The local election results put Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. who belongs to the ruling Conservative Party, under pressure to outline his plan for when he will hold the next vote.

Sunak defiant over chances in general election

Sunak has the power to decide the general election date, but it must be held before January 28 next year at the latest.

He struck a defiant note after the Conservative Ben Houchen won re-election as the mayor of the northern region of Tees Valley.

"Come a general election, [voters] are going to stick with us too," Sunak said.

The chairman of the Conservative Party, Richard Holden, said it had been "a tough night" on Friday.

National polls suggest Labour is 20 percentage points ahead of the Conservatives in terms of general election choices.

According to the BBC, if replicated in a nationwide contest, the initial tallies suggested Labour would win 34 percent of the vote, with the Tories trailing by nine points.

Sky News' projection for a general election using the partial results would see Labour become the largest party but short of an overall majority. 

Liberal Democrats and Greens make gains 

Elsewhere, the centrist Liberal Democrats and the Green Party also made gains, as did Reform UK, which is trying to take voters from the Conservatives on the right.

Yet there seems to be no apparent moves among Tories to replace Sunak, which at this point would barely be possible in time for an election campaign.

Sunak has previously said he was eyeing a vote in the "second half of 2024."

rm, lo/msh (AFP, AP, Reuters)