British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is facing calls from Conservative lawmakers to introduce an immigration cap as he comes under pressure to move his party further to the right after it was routed in last week’s local elections had been beaten.
While internal critics of Sunak decided not to try to replace him, prominent party members renewed their attacks on the leader after the Conservatives lost almost half of the council seats they were defending. Keir Starmer’s resurgent Labor Party also won 10 of the 11 mayors up for grabs, increasing its vote share in London and ousting popular Tory mayor Andy Street in the West Midlands by just 1,500 votes.
Now Sunak is facing calls to consider policies including an immigration cap and a withdrawal from the European Court of Human Rights, even as the Prime Minister has urged the party to ‘stick to the plan’ in the run-up to the general elections expected in the second half. While many of the seats have been won by Labor and other left-wing parties such as the Liberal Democrats and the Greens, some Conservatives are concerned that the populist Reform UK, founded by Brexit campaigner Nigel Farage, poses a greater threat.