Tories Win British Local Elections

Britain’s local elections on Thursday came on the 11th anniversary of Tony Blair’s victory over the Conservative Party. Apparently, 11 years has been long enough for most British voters. As the count continued Friday and into the week-end, it was clear that Labour had its worst result in 40 years (coming in third in the overall vote), losing 331 councilors’ seats, losing control of 9 local councils (out of 159 total), and losing the race for London’s mayor. Gordon Brown has 2 years to recover before he must call a general election, but that might not be enough time.

Prime Minister Brown took the blame like a man. “It's clear to me that this has been a disappointing night, indeed a bad night for Labour.” He added, “My job is to listen and to lead.” Then, he admitted that his government has “lessons to learn.” His decision to drop the 10p in the pound tax rate right before the election effectively raised taxes on the poorest Britons. His decision to scrap the plan after an MPs' rebellion magnified the error. He came off looking both insensitive and weak.

The Tories leader, David Cameron, was quick to raise the bar for his side. “This is a very big moment for the Conservative Party - but I don’t want anyone to think that we would deserve to win an election on the back of a failing government. I want us to really prove to people that we can make the changes that they want to see, in terms of schools and hospitals and crime and the other issues that really matter to all of us.” In other words, the Conservative councils will showcase that Toryism means now, and the voters will fall in line at the general election.

For the Liberal Democrats, it was a mixed bag. Coming ahead of Labour in the overall vote is always nice. Gaining 34 council seats out of 4,000 isn’t much about which to brag, but it is better than losing seats. Picking up control of one council is in the same category. Still, there is a sense that the party should have done better.

And then, there is the matter of London's Mayor Ken Livingstone losing to Boris Johnson, a man who is the most buffoonish (his word!), right-wing, Alan B’stard-in-the-flesh toff. If Red Ken was a caricature of Britain’s left in the 1980s, then Mayor-elect Johnson is a caricature of Britain’s right in the 1980s. The trouble is it’s 2008 in London. If Mr. Johnson can make the 2012 Olympics preparations work, and if he can get the transportation of the city sorted out, he will deserve re-election and the praise of every Londoner. However, there is little evidence that he was even a very effective editor of The Spectator. That is the beauty of democracy, though. London voted for him, and now, it has to live with him.

© Copyright 2008 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Fedora Linux.

Kensington Review Home