Local elections test UK’s main parties as hard right rises

LONDON: Britons voted in lacklustre local elections on Thursday with the country´s two main parties bracing for a possible bruising from hard-right candidates as the UK´s political landscape splinters.

The polls in England are the first since Keir Starmer became Labour prime minister and Kemi Badenoch took over at the reins of the struggling opposition Conservatives last year.

The anti-immigrant Reform UK party is expected to make gains, as are the centrist Liberal Democrats and left-wing Greens, confirming a trend that Britain is entering an era of multi-party politics.

Urging people to vote Labour, Starmer said in a message on X on Thursday: “The choice is clear.” “Labour councillors, mayors and MPs working together to bring change to Britain. Or chaos and division with parties who have no plan for change.”

In her final message, Badenoch sought to drum up support for her Tories, saying: “If you want a great council, don´t just hope for it, vote for it.” “British politics appears to be fragmenting,” political scientist John Curtice wrote in the Telegraph this week, adding the polls “will likely be the first in which as many as five parties are serious players”.

British politics have been dominated by the centre-left Labour party and centre-right Tories since the early 20th century.