By Abiola Olawale
In a historic moment, Labour’s Sadiq Khan has won a third successive term as mayor of London, becoming the first politician to achieve the feat.
The victory came following the victory of Labour’s Andy Burnham. Burnham who was re-elected as Greater Manchester Mayor after winning 426,749 votes.
Also, Conservative candidate Andy Street failed to be re-elected as the West Midlands Mayor and was defeated by Labour’s Richard Parker by 1,508 votes.
In London, Sadiq Khan beat the Tory candidate Susan Hall by 43.7% to 32.6%. Khan, from the main opposition Labour Party, was initially elected to the post in 2016, becoming London’s first Muslim mayor, and is now the first politician to win three consecutive terms since the role was created in 2000.
These victories further cement the poor outing of Britain’s ruling party, the Conservative Party in the council election, triggering concerns for the party months before the general election.
The New Diplomat reports that the opposition party, Labour, emerged victorious in the Blackpool South by-election, defeating the Conservatives with a record 26 per cent swing. Also, several police and crime commissioner positions previously held by the Tories were taken over by the Labour party.
Of the 107 councils that held elections on Thursday, 102 had declared their full results on Friday night with the Conservatives losing more than 400 councillors, as the party lost control of 10 councils
The Conservative Party, under the leadership of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, has been left to face a challenging situation, as the latest local election results suggest the party’s worst performance in four decades. The outcome of the election has raised concerns that the party may also lose in the upcoming general election, a possibility that further strengthens the hopes of the opposition Labour Party, which is seeking to return to power after a 14-year absence in a UK general election scheduled in the coming months.
The major positive for the Conservative Party is the re-election of the mayor of Tees Valley in the northeast of England. Though Ben Houchen of the Conservative Party won the election, his vote share fell to 19% compared to 2021. He scored 53.6% of the vote, compared to 72.8% last time.
