Brits will go to the polls for local elections next Thursday (5), and this will be a test for Conservative Prime Minister Boris Johnson, weakened by the “party gate” scandal of parties held during his confinement in Downing Street, his official residence in Downing Street. . . .
The results will make it possible to gauge the balance of power between Johnson’s Conservative Party and the opposition Labor Party across the country ahead of the next legislative election.
Johnson, 57, won a major victory in December 2019 on promises to break the years-long political stagnation and secure Brexit, the UK’s polarizing exit from the European Union (EU).
However, it lost its power with the party scandal held in Downing Street during the heavy restrictions caused by the covid-19 pandemic, as well as the high inflation that affected the voters’ pockets.
A police investigation made him the first British head of government to be fined for breaking the law while in office.
Angry at his move, conservative lawmakers tried to cast a vote of no confidence against Johnson in January.
However, the war in Ukraine, a country occupied by Russia, with Johnson’s unequivocal support of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky quelled the rebellion in the Conservative Party.
cost of living
The defeat of Johnson by the Conservatives in Thursday’s election could intensify calls for him to step down and allow a new leader to rise before the 2024 general election.
The party scandal doesn’t seem to matter to voters.
“The thing that will most impress people is the cost of living: food prices are rising, energy prices are rising,” said a voter in Dudley, central England, who identified himself as simply Bob.
“What Johnson did was bad, they were more or less laughing at everyone with partygate,” the 76-year-old retiree told AFP.
“But they should focus on the cost of living,” he added.
The Labor Party made progress in the 2018 local elections, in part due to the chaos among the Conservatives after the 2016 Brexit vote.
Keir Starmer, leader of the Labor Party since 2020, hopes to gain strength from Britain’s “Red Wall” local councils that voted Conservatives in the last general election.
Polls show Labor will win most of the UK seats.
Labor still hopes to win seats in Scotland, held by the independent Scottish National Party (SNP), and consolidate control in Wales.
Sinn Fein
In addition to Johnson, Thursday’s elections could jeopardize Britain’s long-term future in Northern Ireland, where House representatives will be elected.
The nationalist Sinn Fein party could become the largest party in the Northern Ireland Assembly, something that has never happened in the province’s troubled 100-year history.
A LucidTalk poll for the Belfast Telegraph shows the nationalists are six points ahead of the UK-friendly Democratic Unionist Party (DUP).
Deirdre Heenan, Professor of Social Policy at the University of Ulster, calls it “a turning point in Irish politics”.
“It will be a big change for a nationalist to be prime minister,” he told AFP.
Sinn Fein, the former political arm of the Irish Republican Army (IRA), chose to insist on cost of living and local issues in these elections, in favor of a consultation on British rule in Northern Ireland.
But DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson insists a consultation on British sovereignty is “at the heart” of the opponents’ agenda.
Headache
The election could give Johnson another constitutional headache, as the SNP promises to spur his plans for a new Scottish independence referendum.
Scotland voted to maintain a third-century union with England and Wales in 2014, but Scottish opposition to Brexit led to a backlash.
source: Noticias
