Local elections

A beleaguered Gordon Brown faced an electoral disaster at the local elections on 1 May, even worse than what the opinion polls had predicted. Labour only got 24% of the votes, against 44% for the Conservatives and 25% for the Liberal Democrats. This was their worst defeat at local elections in 40 years. The most spectacular result was Ken Livingstone's defeat in London: the seemingly popular Mayor, who had successfully introduced the congestion charge to reduce traffic in London, was beaten by the young Tory maverick, Boris Johnson.
These results will obviously boost the prospects of David Cameron, the leader of the Conservative party. It is a major setback for the Prime Minister, and pundits were wondering over the week end whether he stood a chance of turning public opinion before the next general election, in 2009 or 2010. At least, he is unlikely to face a challenge from within the party in the meantime, as there is no obvious candidate to stand against him - who would want to become leader now anyway, as food and fuel prices rise, and face the likely prospect of a defeat ? But parliamentary rebellions might be further encouraged by the MPs' fear of losing their seats. The next battle will be over the government's plan to lengthen the time when terrorist supects can be detained without charge to 42 days (it is 28 days at the moment).