Theresa May Fends Off Labour Party in Local U.K. Elections - The New York Times - 0 views
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Despite mounting troubles over Britain’s withdrawal from the European Union and a recent cabinet resignation, Prime Minister Theresa May’s Conservative Party emerged relatively unscathed from local elections, according to results released on Friday that showed that its opponents had failed to make the breakthrough many expected.
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Labour was victorious in some key areas, but it fell short in its efforts to take control of two Conservative strongholds in London — Westminster and Wandsworth — that had been thought to be vulnerable, as well as the capital’s northern borough of Barnet, a much easier target.
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The results will be a relief for Mrs. May, whose leadership has been in question since she called an unnecessary general election last June in which she lost her parliamentary majority. That has forced her to rely on an uneasy alliance with Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party to get legislation through Parliament.Mrs. May has survived the various threats to her leadership, and her position seemed to have stabilized thanks to her handling of the aftermath of the poisoning of the former Russian spy Sergei V. Skripal and his daughter, Yulia.
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Labour had allowed expectations for election gains to grow high, particularly in London, where some senior figures talked up prospects of a victory in Wandsworth. A dispute over the handling of anti-Semitism in the party may have also cost support for Labour and Mr. Corbyn, particularly in Barnet, where there is a significant Jewish population. Advertisement Continue reading the main story Nevertheless, the voting took place at a difficult time for a divided government facing many problems. In recent weeks, Mrs. may’s predicament has been complicated by the House of Lords, the unelected chamber of Parliament, which has inflicted 10 defeats on her Brexit legislation, adding amendments that she will try to overturn in the House of Commons, the main chamber.
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Mrs. May’s problems over a withdrawal are coming to a head over her promise to leave Europe’s customs union, which guarantees tariff-free trade with Continental Europe.
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This issue has come to symbolize a deep division: Pro-Europeans want to stick close to the bloc, Britain’s biggest trade partner, in order to protect the economy, while hard-line Brexit supporters want to break free and to negotiate other trade deals with non-European nations.