Conservatives squash Labour in local elections

While the results are still coming in, the Conservatives have made dramatic gains over Labour in Thursday’s local elections, turning a total of three counties from solidly red (Labour) to decidedly blue (Conservative). Victories in Staffordshire, Derbyshire, and Lancashire by Conservatives over Labour have given the Conservatives the momentum they need to move forward in a pending general election, being encouraged by legislation introduced by Conservative Party leader David Cameron. Results are still unavailable in Nottinghamshire, a county previously held by Labour. Its fate is uncertain.

Conservatives have gained a total of 191 seats in total county council elections across the country, while Labour has lost 210 seats total. Conservatives have won control of a total of 6 county councils, while Labour have let slip control of 4 county councils.

Follow county-by-county updates here. And overall updates here. This election likely marks the beginning of the end for “New Labour.”

In broader view, European Parliamentary elections resulted in a 2nd place win by the Duth far-Right (Freedom) party, falling behind the Christian Democrats, who secured 20% of the vote. From the article:

The European Parliament elections had been widely expected to punish governments struggling to cope with the global economic crisis, and polls released by the ANP news agency and broadcaster NOS put the Right-wing Freedom Party on course to win four of the 25 Dutch seats in the parliament, after having none in the previous assembly. This put Mr Wilders’ party second only to the ruling Christian Democrats, which got nearly 20 per cent of votes, according to the poll.

Mr Wilders, who was banned from Britain by the Home Office because of his controversial views on Islam, won support from Protestant and Catholic voters disenchanted with what has been perceived as the growing influence of the nation’s 800,000 Muslims, many of them immigrants from Morocco and Turkey.

Mr Wilders, whose party was contesting European elections for the first time, campaigned on an anti-EU platform and criticised Turkey’s bid to join the EU.

For more election results, check out my Tweets – as I will be following British local elections closely.