British Prime Minister David Cameron addresses councillors and supporters following the local elections outside Peterborough Conservative Club in Peterborough, central England. (Photo: AFP)
Scottish nationalists won a third term in power but lost their outright majority Friday in one of a series of local and regional elections seen as a key test for Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.
Britain’s main Opposition Labour party came third in the vote for Scotland’s devolved Parliament.
Mr Corbyn, a leftwinger, who has come under pressure from centrists in his party since taking power in 2015, insisted his party had “hung on” and surpassed expectations.
“All across England last night we were getting predictions that we were going to lose councils. We didn’t,” he said. “We hung on and we grew support in a lot of places.”
Labour officials said the party’s overall performance — though poor — was strong enough to stop any immediate challenge to Mr Corbyn, who opponents criticise for pressing a leftist agenda that lacks broad appeal.
Britons voted on Thursday to elect new devolved authorities in Scotland and Wales, more than 2,700 local officials across England and a new mayor of London.
With results in from 110 out of 124 councils, Labour had 55, down one, and 1,176 seats, down 25.
Labour lost nine per cent of its share of the vote in Scotland and some ground in Wales.
Prime Minister David Cameron's Conservatives had control of an unchanged 30 councils and 650 seats, down 23.
A BBC projection suggested that Labour would win 31 per cent of the vote share nationally compared to 30 per cent for the Conservatives.
“The Labour party is in serious trouble, although the likely election of a Labour candidate to be London mayor will distract from that,” said Matthew Goodwin, politics professor at Kent University.
“The Labour party is now third in Scotland for the first time since 1910 and it has failed to make a serious impression in southern England”.
North of the border, Nicola Sturgeon, head of the Scottish National Party (SNP), will lead the separatist party into its third successive government, with devolved powers over most domestic policy issues.
However, she played down talk of a fresh independence referendum to follow the unsuccessful one in 2014 after the SNP lost its outright majority, which will force it to work with a smaller party like the Greens.
“The SNP will always make our case with passion, with patience and with respect, but our aim is to persuade not to divide,” Ms Sturgeon said.
Aside from the SNP's win, the other big story in Scotland was the success of the Scottish Conservatives, who came second with 31 seats.
The party has been deeply unpopular in Scotland since the 1980s premiership of Margaret Thatcher but its fortunes have turned around under current leader Ruth Davidson. Ms Davidson is a charismatic and openly gay 37-year-old whose cheery, no-nonsense style and proficient use of social media has fuelled her party’s success.
The voting day came after a bitter few weeks of sniping between the Conservatives and Labour.
Mr Corbyn set up an inquiry into anti-Semitism and racism in Labour after former London mayor Ken Livingstone was suspended for claiming Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler supported Zionism.
Mr Cameron is also grappling with deep splits in his party ahead of the June 23 referendum on Britain’s EU membership.
But the PM sounded an optimistic note as he met activists Friday. He called the results “remarkable” and accused Labour of being “so obsessed with their left-wing causes” that they had “lost touch” with voters.
