Political situation in Great Britain

Analysis: The clock is ticking for Sunak after the shock election

Thursday's local elections in England were a disaster for Tory and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is living on borrowed time. Within months he must call a general election, and there is no indication that the Tories will be able to retain power, writes The Independent's Sean O'Grady.

The stinging defeat is mainly due to the progress of right-wing populist Reform UK, founded by Nigel Farage, in traditional Tory strongholds. Polls suggest the Tories could be headed for a worse result than the 1997 disaster in the next general election.

"The Conservatives are deep in the pit," writes the Telegraph's John Curtice.

The adversity is most clearly seen in the district of Rushmoor in southern England, where the British army is based. For the first time ever, Labor now has a majority.

"Rushmoor has never been controlled by Labor in its 50-year history and has had a Conservative majority since 2000. Not even Tony Blair managed to win there," writes Will Jennings in an analysis in Sky News.
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Nightmare night for Sunak - loses parliamentary seat

Thursday's local elections in England were a slap in the face for British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and his conservative Tory party.

Tory lost a number of seats in the local elections and also lost a parliamentary seat in the by-election in the Blackpool South constituency. Labour's candidate Chris Webb received 59 per cent of the vote, over 30 percentage points more than Tory candidate David Jones.

- This landslide victory in Blackpool South is the most important result today, says Labor leader Keir Starmer.

All the votes in the various district elections have not been counted yet, but according to polls, Tory could lose about half of its nearly one thousand seats in England's various districts.