Ahmet Gürhan Kartal
03 May 2019•Update: 04 May 2019
LONDON
Britain’s mainstream political parties received a major setback in local elections Thursday as the leading Conservative Party and main opposition Labour Party lost ground, according to preliminary results.
Pro-EU Liberal Democrats secured about 500 seats in local councils after their downfall in the 2015 general election.
Prime Minister Theresa May’s Conservative Party lost more than 32 councils and more than 900 seats, results show after a tally of two-thirds of votes. Estimates are the party won 28%, down from 35% from the last local election.
May blamed the poor showing on the still-to-be-delivered Brexit. She said the results show voters want the main parties to “deliver Brexit.”
The Labour Party fell to 28% from 35%, lost four councils and 83 seats across the country.
Pro-European Labour politicians meanwhile renewed calls to the party’s leadership to include a second referendum in their manifesto in the upcoming European elections as they claimed its present position is costing the party votes.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn responded to results, saying his party was the only political party trying to appeal to leave and remain voters together.
Following an election disaster in 2015 after a coalition led by then-Prime Minister David Cameron, Liberal Democrats are back in the political arena after winning control of 10 councils and 519 more seats.
Sir Vince Cable, the Lib Dem leader said his party are “the big winners” in the election.
The Green Party gained 112 seats, their best result in an election.
The elections in 248 out of 343 councils in the U.K. and 11 councils in Northern Ireland will determine new councilors for 8,425 seats for the next term.
The final results are significant as they will show voters' preferences after more than three years of Brexit negotiations, which have resulted in a stalemate.
The U.K. was set to leave the EU on March 31 but the Brexit date has been extended.
Final results of the election are expected later Friday.
