"Not in harmony with the British people": why the two leading parties in Britain lost the elections to local authorities

The ruling Conservative Party of Great Britain showed the worst result in local elections in the last few decades. It lost more than 1.3 thousand seats (the number of mandates was reduced to 3562) in local authorities and lost control over 44 councils, having now only a majority of 93 of 248 councils.

Support for the opposition Labor Party has also declined, although not so much. Laborites lost 82 seats (now they have 2023 seats) and control over six councils.

More than others, the Liberal Democrats party, which supports the preservation of British membership in the EU, strengthened its position. According to Sky News, it increased the number of mandates in local government by 704 (up to 1351).

According to the head of the Liberal Democrats, Vince Cable, the party has shown the best result in history, and the British have shown their distrust towards the Conservatives and Laborites who support Brexit.

In addition to the Liberal Democrats, elections were also successful for small political forces, including the Green Party. Independent candidates were also able to strengthen their positions at the regional level.

On the eve of the announcement of the election results, the leader of the Conservatives, the British Prime Minister Theresa May, said that her party was going through hard times.

“This is a difficult time for our party, and the current elections have demonstrated this. But I think that this election was a clear call to us and to the Labor Party: just take and secure brexit, ”said May.

Despite the strengthening of the positions of opponents of a break in relations with the EU, the British Prime Minister does not intend to change the strategy for leaving the UK from the European Union.

“Exiting with a good agreement that we settled is the best option that we have. Leaving the EU with an agreement that works for the benefit of all parts of the country is the best solution, ”said May.

"Indicator of the decline of the two leading British parties"

According to analysts, the reason for the local elections’s disappointing results for the Conservatives and Laborists is the growing frustration of British society because of Brexit’s government failures.

The European Union does not intend to revise the agreement on the conditions for Britain’s exit from the EU, European Commission spokeswoman Mina Andreeva said in late April.

“As stated in the final document of the EU summit of April 10, any revision of the agreement is excluded, because this is the best and only possible deal,” she said.

According to Andreeva, at the moment there are no negotiations on Brexit between Brussels and London.

Recall that the parties initially agreed to begin the process of leaving the UK from the European Union in late March. However, this date was postponed several times - May repeatedly asked for a postponement, since the British parliamentarians did not manage to reach a unified solution on brexit terms.

• UK and EU flags
• Reuters
• © Peter Nicholls

Earlier, the President of the European Council, Donald Tusk, said that Brussels and London had agreed to postpone British withdrawal from the EU until October 31, 2019.

Vladimir Schweitzer, head of the department of social and political studies at the Institute of Europe, RAS, agrees that the UK vote reflects the disillusionment of the country's citizens with the policies of parties that have not yet been able to break the brexit talks.

“UK residents are tired of the two largest parties against the background of the Brexit situation, their inability to solve systemic problems. The British are tired of uncertainty, because no one knows how exactly the process of leaving the country from the EU will take place. The English are by nature not the people who do something blindfolded — these people are used to taking careful steps, ”Schweitzer said in an interview with RT.

According to him, the failure of two leading political forces of the kingdom in local elections is the result of an internal crisis.

“All this tangled history with Brexit has brought total confusion to the ruling class of the country. The conservatives lost because they offer no alternative. Laborites have conceded because they nominate it insignificantly, ”the expert explained.

In this situation, the liberal democrats managed to overtake a part of the conservative electorate - people who are not satisfied with what is happening with Brexit and the prospects for the existence of the UK outside the European Union, Schweitzer said. At the same time, “Greens”, in his opinion, probably “took the votes” from the Laborites, since both these parties are oriented towards the intelligentsia and the underprivileged sections of the working class. The reason that independent candidates have been able to significantly strengthen their positions at the regional level is also due to the disillusionment of the people by the two main parties, Schweitzer said.

According to the associate professor of the Integration Processes Department at MGIMO, Alexander Tevda-Burmuli, both the Laborites and the Tories have lost a lot due to the Brexit scandal.

“Liberal Democrats are becoming stronger, this may indicate that the two-party system of Great Britain is giving up slack. Probably, the British would like to return to the order, when the libdem were also a significant element of power, ”Tevda-Burmuli said in a conversation with RT.

It can be foreseen that in national elections, conservatives and Labor may lose part of their electorate, which will be drawn by ascending political forces, first of all liberal democrats, the expert believes.

“From any ruling party, if it sits in power for a long time, people get tired. The British need some kind of update. However, the situation is aggravated by Brexit, because of which the ruling forces lost their popularity, ”Tevda-Burmuli stated.

He also added that the results of the local elections should become a wake-up call for the two main political forces and encourage them to cooperate more to determine the format of Brexit.

Strike on conservatives

According to experts, the results of the local elections could have been influenced by a large internal party scandal connected with the resignation of the British Minister of Defense, whom May caught in the unauthorized dissemination of departmental information.

Recall that a few hours before the opening of polling stations, the head of the Tories dismissed Gavin Williamson, who led the country's defense ministry. Mei blamed him for the leakage of information from the National Security Council and presented to the ex-minister “convincing evidence” indicating his involvement in the incident. After that, she stated the need to conduct an appropriate investigation.

• Ex-Minister of Defense of the United Kingdom Gavin Williamson
• Reuters
• © Toby Melville

“For this reason, I report with great sadness: I have decided that I no longer have full confidence in you as the Minister of Defense and cabinet minister and ask you to leave the government,” said an open letter to the head of government, Williamson.

Meanwhile, the former head of the Ministry of Defense himself denied the accusations of the Prime Minister.

“I am sorry that you think that the recent leaks from the National Security Council came from my office. I emphasize that it is not. I categorically deny that I had anything to do with this leak, and I am confident that a thorough and official investigation will confirm my position, ”he wrote in a public letter in reply.

In addition, Williamson stressed that earlier he had received an offer from May to resign, but he refused such a move, since this would mean calling on guilt.

As noted by Vladimir Schweitzer, Williamson’s resignation could have a significant effect on the outcome of local elections in the UK.

“The voter was affected by such an unexpected, scandalous situation around the British Secretary of Defense. It hit hard on the conservatives in general. In general, it is not clear why Theresa May arranged all this on the eve of the elections. Or, maybe, this vote was completely optional for her and she considers it a secondary stage, ”the expert noted.

Alternative political power

The people refuse to vote for conservatives and laborists, since in British society there is a request for an alternative political force, experts say.

Recall, on April 12, the former leader of the United Kingdom Independence Party, Nigel Faraj, announced the creation of a new Brexit Party, the purpose of which is to conduct a “democratic revolution” in Great Britain.

“Our parliament and our government are trying to annul the greatest manifestation of democracy in the history of these islands (UK exit from the EU. - RT ).” It's time to fight back! So yes, today I created the Brexit Party, we will fight in the European elections on May 23. And we will try to carry out a democratic revolution in this country. Neither the Labor Party nor the Conservative Party are currently suitable for this. Our parliament is out of tune with the British people. It's time to do something! That's what I intend to do, ”Faraj said on Fox News.

• Former leader of the United Kingdom Independence Party Nigel Faraj
• Reuters
• © Toby Melville

According to him, the postponement of the exit of Great Britain from the EU is an attempt of the elite to counteract the will of the British people.

According to Alexander Tevda-Burmuli, based on the current situation, the appearance of representatives of the Brexit Party in the British Parliament is quite likely.

“The British will always have some level of Euroscepticism. At the same time, small parties can suddenly get limited representation in parliament on this wave, ”the expert explained.

Vladimir Schweitzer shares his point of view. The expert believes that, taking advantage of the confusion in the British government, the Brexit Party will be able to win a fairly large number of votes.

“Alternative political power is coming to the fore. Nigel Faraj's new party can get a lot of votes. It is likely that a similar situation will occur in the last elections of the United Kingdom Independence Party, which has its own electorate, activists and media. Such a scenario is likely with the Brexit Party, given that there is a complete rift among the ranks of the Conservatives and the Laborists are also rapidly losing their positions, ”said Vladimir Schweitzer.