MAJOR LOCAL election losses for the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats have raised issues about the future stability of Britain’s coalition government.
But, speaking as the results emerged, prime minister David Cameron and his deputy, Liberal Democrat Nick Clegg, insist that government policies will not change.
Yet many MPs in both parties argued otherwise; with the Conservatives demanding a Conservative stamp on the coalition, while Liberal Democrat MPs pushed for a stronger role.
Labour leader Ed Miliband enjoyed Labour’s best results in local elections since Tony Blair’s success before winning the 1997 general election.
Saying that the coalition is “standing up for the rich and powerful, but not standing up for the millions of ordinary families who need help”, Mr Miliband said Labour is “winning back people’s trust”.
Nearly two dozen councils came under Labour control, including Birmingham and Southampton, with the arrival of about 800 new councillors to the party’s ranks.
But voters’ irritation with politics and politicians was illustrated by the 30 per cent turnout, the lowest for 12 years in council elections.
Sympathising with defeated Conservatives, Mr Cameron said there are no “easy answers” to the UK’s problems: “We will go on making those decisions and we’ve got to do the right thing for our country.”
However, his coalition partner, Mr Clegg was ashen-faced as he acknowledged the party’s worst local election results since it was formed in the 1988 merger of the Liberal Party and Social Democratic Party.
The results are deeply worrying for the Liberal Democrats, which depends more heavily on its grassroots organisations to maintain numbers in the House of Commons than the other major parties.
Interpreting the political significance of yesterday’s result is difficult because most of the seats decided were last up for grabs in 2008, when the Conservatives made advances against Labour.
But Conservatives are worried, particularly by the rise in support for the anti-EU UK Independence Party.
Seeking changes, a succession of Conservatives demanded an end to plans to reform the House of Lords, which is set to take up the majority of parliamentary time over the next year.
“The coalition is going to look completely out of touch if we follow through with Lords reform,” said influential backbencher Bernard Jenkin.
“There’s a very clear message that we should talk about the economy and the things that matter to voters, rather than drifting off on to some of the subjects,” he said.
The threat now posed by UKIP could threaten the Conservatives’ ambition for a majority government in 2015, warned junior minister, Gerald Howarth.
“Frankly, if you get one Labour or Liberal voter to vote Conservative at the general election but lose three or four others to UKIP, you’re not going to win,” he said.
In Scotland, Labour held off the threat from the Scottish National Party in Glasgow, but the nationalists made gains elsewhere. Liberal Democrats support haemorrhaged there too.
Scottish Labour Party leader Johann Lamont said Labour’s success showed the SNP’s demand for independence is not finding a welcome with voters. “In tough times, it is about making sure we have people on their side, fighting for jobs, fighting to make sure we have the best quality services we can get,” she said.
One positive result for the Conservatives was that London’s mayor, Boris Johnson, appeared comfortably on course to be re-elected.
