The End of an Era? The Conservative Party Challenges Ahead.

The Conservative Party suffered a major blow in the UK’s mid-term elections, as they lost their dominant majority in two crucial constituencies, leading to a significant defeat. Despite being in power for 13 years, the Conservatives’ image has been marred by a string of recent scandals. This article delves into whether the Tories can bounce back after this electoral setback and investigates how the country’s economic problems have contributed to the declining support for the party.

Inside the Troubling Legacy of Britain’s Conservatives

The Labour Party is currently ahead in the polls, making the upcoming by-elections for the lower house even more significant, given the varying outcomes for the ruling party. In the recent mid-term elections in the UK, the Conservatives struggled to maintain their hold on the constituency of their former prime minister, Boris Johnson, only managing to secure a narrow victory with a 495-vote margin over Labour in the Oxbridge and South Ruislip constituencies. However, in the other two constituencies, the Conservatives faced a severe setback as they lost their decisive majority, resulting in a heavy defeat.

The mid-term elections are an essential test of the Conservative Party.

The recent by-elections in three constituencies, previously firmly in the hands of the Conservatives, were seen as an essential test for the ruling party. The Conservative Party has been in power in the UK for 13 years but has suffered a massive loss of popularity following various scandals and a change in leadership. In recent polls, they are trailing Labor by a large margin. A general election is expected to be held in the UK next year. The British Conservative government is also struggling with high inflation, recession, strikes and a crisis in the public health system. Sunak’s Conservatives are trailing Labor by 20% in the polls.

The excitement of mid-term elections in the UK

In Johnson’s former West London constituency, Conservative candidate Steve Tuckwell won by a narrow margin with 13,965 votes to Labour’s 13,470. Oxbridge and South Ruislip have been Conservative strongholds under Prime Minister Johnson and current Prime Minister Rishi Sunak for decades. The results of the mid-term elections were, therefore, eagerly awaited.

 Partygate and Johnson’s resignation from the UK

Johnson was forced to resign as prime minister last summer. He got into this situation because of the Partygate scandal about illegal parties in Downing Street during the Covid-19 quarantine. In June this year, an inquiry into the scandal concluded that Johnson had deliberately lied to Parliament about it. He then resigned from his position.

The Liberal Democratic Party witnessed a notable surge in votes.

The Liberal Democrats won in the constituency of Somerton and Frome in the southwest of England. Liberal Democrat Sarah Dyke won with 21,187 votes, while Tory MP David Warburton, accused of using cocaine, got just 10,179. Before the election, his party had a majority of 19,000 votes in this constituency. In the third constituency of Selby and Ainsty in North Yorkshire, England, the Conservatives lost their previous majority of 20,000 votes. There, Johnson’s ally Nigel Adams had resigned, necessitating a by-election.

The conservative party’s escape from successive defeats

During the British mid-term elections, the Conservatives defended the former Prime Minister Johnson’s constituency. However, they faced defeats in two other constituencies. The election officials reported that the Liberal Democrats emerged victorious in Somerton and Frome, situated in Somerset County in the west of England, while the Social Democratic Labor Party secured a win in Selby and Ainsty in North Yorkshire. It is noteworthy that the conservatives previously held all three districts. As a result, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s ruling party suffered significant losses in the election, narrowly avoiding a triple defeat.

Decrease in the popularity of the conservative government. 

UK local elections were held in Wales and England, but it should be noted that Scotland and Ireland have their elections separately from the UK. The results of the mentioned elections clearly showed that the conservative party led by Rishi Sunak, who is currently playing the role of the prime minister of this country, is in severe political danger and in a way, it can be said that the conservative party does not have a good position in the minds of the British public. The results of the British local elections give us the impression that despite the implementation of Brexit, there are still many criticisms from the citizens of this country against the Conservative Party, and that is why we say that the path for the Prime Minister and the ruling party in the upcoming general elections is uneven.

The results of this election have led many analysts and political experts in the UK to conclude that in the 2024 elections, the Labor Party will surpass the Conservative Party by about 10%. The ruling party faced such problems in the recent elections because of economic problems, people’s livelihood issues, and the increase in inflation resulting from Brexit. The Labor Party of the UK managed to defeat the Conservative Party in the recent local elections by manoeuvring on the same issue, and it seems that a serious challenge has been placed in the way of the Prime Minister.

Increased inflation and failure to fulfil Rishi Sunak’s promises

Rising inflation and the unfulfilled promises of Rishi Sunak’s government over the past nine months have left more than a quarter of British single parents unable to feed themselves and their children, An issue that, according to observers, can add negative points to the Prime Minister’s record. In the upcoming elections, the power of the conservatives will be heavily weighted. In the past, we saw similar results and political events in the UK. Still, in any case, not only the critics of the ruling party but also their supporters believe that Rishi Sunak’s path forward is not very smooth.

Unsuccessful efforts of conservatives to improve economic problems

We remember that Liz Truss was forced to resign less than two months later when she assumed the role of Prime Minister of the UK, and the reason for this was related to issues and party conflicts in addition to economic problems. Meanwhile, some believe that the Scottish National Party (SNP) or the parties of Northern Ireland can weaken the position of the current Prime Minister of the UK by raising the issue of independence. But still, this support package could not prevent the economic stagnation of the families. As a result, 21% of the recipients of this energy subsidy believe that they can still not provide food.

The Labour Party’s assurance of victory

Observers believe that a large part of this trust comes from each party’s policy on housing and the economy. In other words, the Labor Party is manoeuvring on these issues, while the Conservative Party is involved in more minor matters. Sunak, who took office after the disgraceful departure of Boris Johnson and the brief tenure of Liz Truss as prime minister, promised to reduce inflation, grow the economy, reduce the government debt, increase health care and stop illegal immigrants from entering the sea for a significant change. None of them succeeded. 

Economy, the weakness of Rishi Sunak’s government

Perhaps until recently, the story of the scandals of Boris Johnson, the former Prime Minister of the UK, was often heard from the opposition, but considering that there is nothing left until the British general election, the Labor Party, which is evaluating its chances of victory solid this period, to compete with the ruling conservatives, it uses the ineffective economic policies of the current government as its trump card and manoeuvres on it. Rishi Sunak’s government has only 18 months to fix this chaos because when the next election is due, it seems unlikely that the conservatives will even have a chance to keep their seats.