Labor won important mayoral elections – another blow for Sunak

Policy: Later this year, the British will elect a new Parliament, and after the local elections in England and Wales, Labour’s favorite stamp has become even clearer.

It was not unexpected that London Mayor Sadiq Khan secured re-election for a third term. But Labor also secured a more surprising victory in the West Midlands metropolitan region in central England.

Incumbent Mayor Andy Street from the Conservatives was beaten by challenger Richard Parker by a margin of just 0.3 percentage points – or 1,508 votes.

Labour’s party leader Keir Starmer says that the results in the local elections, which were held on Thursday, are even better than expected.

– People all over the country have had enough of conservative chaos and decline and voted for change, he says in a statement.

Sunak had hoped that his party would get a boost after he recently approved a plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda, as well as increased funding for the defense. But it didn’t work out that way.

– It has been a difficult few months. We have experienced an election campaign with unstoppable negativity, Khan said in a speech after the results were clear.

Khan was first elected mayor of London in 2016, becoming the first Muslim mayor of the British capital.

The loss of the West Midlands mayor could lead to even louder calls for Sunak to step down. He has already said that he will call new elections later this year, but the question is how long he can stay in office.

In London, Khan managed to secure victory with a whopping 43.8 percent of the vote – against 33 percent for the conservative opponent. This is despite the fact that in the election campaign he has had to endure harsh criticism for several knife attacks and the decision that older polluting cars should be taxed when they drive in certain zones.

(© NTB)