The British vote today in the local election which is a measure of the popularity of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. And while local issues are at the heart of these elections, they have great predictive value for the national elections that are likely to be held at the end of next year. It looks like the Conservatives will lose, the only question is how badly, says UK correspondent Lia van Bekhoven.
Although local issues such as garbage collection or a new community center are at the heart of this election, they remain an important test for Prime Minister Sunak. How popular is he really? After the position of his predecessor Liz Truss became untenable, Rishi Sunak was elected last year by members of his Conservative party. And now voters can talk about him for the first time. This is an important indicator’, said Van Bekhoven.
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A recurring theme in almost every place is water quality. According to Van Bekhoven, Britain’s coasts and rivers are some of the most polluted in Europe, ‘if not the dirtiest.’ The culprits were privatized agricultural and water companies. Waste is removed and water is difficult to purify. Angry Britons campaigned that they could no longer fish or swim wildly, ‘because they literally swim in muck’.
‘The British are furious because they are literally swimming in poop’
Conservative loss
Interestingly, the Conservatives have traditionally ruled rural areas and are therefore vulnerable to electoral penalties. Of course Labor had a laugh up his sleeve. “It does appear that indeed the Conservatives will lose, the question is how much.” According to Van Bekhoven, the magic number of 1000 is singing: if Labor wins that number of seats in local elections, then the party has a good chance of winning in national elections which will probably be held at the end of next year. .’
‘The British are exhausted, the energy is gone’
Very low
Van Bekhoven called the turnout between 25 and 30 “very low”. It could be even lower, he thought. British voters are required to carry identification when they vote for the first time today. ‘The British are completely unfamiliar with the concept of an identity card. It doesn’t exist in England. So they really have to make an effort. That means turnout may be even lower.’
According to Van Bekhoven, the low number of voters is also due to a lack of interested parties. “They don’t believe that something is worrying them anymore. They are exhausted, the energy is gone. They are tired of Brexit and four prime ministers in a short space of time. And all that time they are busy keeping their heads above water.’
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