These were intensely domestic polls. But it was foreign affairs that caused Sir Keir Starmer trouble
The results from local elections across England suggest that the Tories are on course to lose power to Labour when voters elect a new parliament. Sir John Curtice, the eminent pollster, set the tone by telling the BBC that he was “looking at one of the worst, if not the worst, Conservative performances in local government elections for the last 40 years”. The fault ultimately lies with Rishi Sunak, the prime minister. He conceded that the results were disappointing. That seemed an understatement when the Tories were losing half the council seats they were trying to defend.
Voters have stopped listening to the Conservatives. The public is fed up with rising bills that the government did not do enough to insulate them from. The shabby state of the public realm is offensive to most people. Mr Sunak might point to the re-election of Ben Houchen as Tees Valley mayor as proof that Conservatives could defy the odds. But if the swing to Labour was replicated in Tees Valley parliamentary constituencies at a general election, Sir Keir Starmer would win them all.
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