Tories surge in local elections
The Guardian reports:
Theresa May’s Conservatives gained more than 550 council seats and swept to shock victories in mayoralty contests in the West Midlands and Tees Valley in results that placed her party on track to secure a thumping majority in the general election.
The prime minister insisted she was not taking “anything for granted” but the Tories enjoyed a stunning day that was matched by a dramatic decline for Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour party, which lost more than 300 seats.
The results forced Labour to hand over control of a series of English councils including Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Northumberland, while in Scotland the party lost its grip on Glasgow for the first time in 40 years.
Takes a lot to lose Glasgow. The full results are:
- Conservatives +558
- Labour -320
- Others – 164
- UKIP -114
- Lib Dems -37
- SNP +31
- Plaid Cymru +26