Sunak, His Govt Stand Rejected By Voters
Ishtiaq Ahmed
London: The outcome of the local elections in England spells misery for the prime minister Rishi Sunak and his conservatives.
The prime minister faces an uphill task to rally his troops ahead of the national elections only months away.
In the local elections of 2nd May, the Tories lost more than 470 councilors and the control of 10 councils.
Despite the poor performance , talk of a possible move by discontented conservatives MPs to oust Sunak seems to have evaporated at least for the time being, maybe in consideration of the national election date being so nearby.
Can Tories afford a leadership contest at this late stage ahead of the country going into the national elections, only months away?
As an understatement of the day, Rishi Sunak described his party’s performance as being ‘disappointing’.
It is also a point of much celebration that Sadiq Khan, the sitting Mayor of London and a senior most Labor politician of Pakistani heritage, has been successfully returned for the historic third time.
While Labor has plenty to smile about the outcome of the local elections, it must have serious concerns about the apparent Muslim backlash in some 46 plus constituencies for its stance on Israel/ Gaza where Muslim votes hold a key to the outcome.
The winning of these seats will be critical for the Labor’s prospects of forming the next government.
The labor party has already been served a serious notice. Whereas the party is buoyant about the outcome of the local elections elsewhere, it has to be worried about seeing a 21 percent decline in the Muslim support against the national trend.
Asked if he was worried about losing the Muslim support over the Gaza issue, Keir Starmar said, “ where we have not been able to persuade people who might otherwise have voted labor it is important for me to acknowledge that, to say I have heard, I’ve listened and I am determined to meet the concerns they have”
It is Worth noting that the Muslim vote by and large went to the Independent ‘protest’ candidates and not to the other main political parties i.e. conservatives, Lib Dem. This may prove to be a significant consideration as labor tries to woo back its traditionally loyal Muslim voters.
We also must acknowledge that the Muslim voters resorted to the democratic process to register their protest. This is a sign of political maturity. However, the new pretenders to the throne are mainly young and inexperienced and would need time and space to find their feet.
They have entered into the political arena on a single agenda issue but now that they have been elected they would be expected to mitigate the burden of wider community expectations as well as keeping the Palestine cause very much alive.
They would need time and space to find their feet.
