Labor victories in Britain’s two biggest cities capped a string of local election successes by opposition leader Keir Starmer, showing his party was firmly on course for victory at the general election later this year.
Not only did Sadiq Khan comfortably win a historic third term as mayor of London, but Labor candidate Richard Parker also caused unrest for the Conservative incumbent in the West Midlands, which includes Birmingham. The results announced on Saturday dashed any hopes Prime Minister Rishi Sunak had of a more positive performance. This helped reassure Tories, who feared the party would be wiped out at the general election expected later this year.
A particular blow was the defeat of West Midlands mayor Andy Street, who had clashed with Sunak over the prime minister’s decision in October to scrap the high-speed line from Birmingham to Manchester. Sunak’s allies had held up a street victory as evidence that an incumbent MP could withstand a red wave of Labor support. He lost by just over 1,500 votes after a recount.
