London, 3 May

Britain's governing Conservative Party is suffering heavy losses as an array of election results pour in Friday, piling pressure on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak ahead of a UK general election in which the main opposition Labour Party appears increasingly likely to return to power after 14 years.

Labour won control of councils in England it hasn't held for decades and was successful in a special by-election for Parliament that if repeated in a general election in coming months, would lead to one of the Conservative's biggest-ever defeats. Its only negative for Labour has been in some areas with large Muslim populations, such as Oldham in northwest England, where the party's candidates appear to have suffered as a result of leader Keir Starmer's strongly pro-Israel stance in the conflict in Gaza.

Perhaps most important in the context of the looming general election, which has to take place by January but could come as soon as next month, Labour won back Blackpool South in the northwest of England that went Conservative in the last general election in 2019, when then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson won a big victory.

In the contest, triggered by the resignation of a Conservative lawmaker following a lobbying scandal, Labour's Chris Webb secured 10,825 votes, 7,607 more than his second-placed Conservative opponent. “This seismic win in Blackpool South is the most important result today," Starmer said. “This is the one contest where voters had the chance to send a message to Rishi Sunak's Conservatives directly, and that message is an overwhelming vote for change."

Thursday's elections were important in themselves, with voters deciding who will run many aspects of their daily lives, such as garbage collection, road maintenance and local crime prevention, in the coming years. But with a general election looming, they will be viewed through a national prism.

The results so far provide more evidence that Labour is likely to form the next government — and by quite a margin — and that Starmer will become prime minister.

As of Friday morning, with barely a quarter of the 2,661 seats up for grabs counted, the Conservatives were down 122 while Labour was up 52. Other parties, such as the centrist Liberal Democrats and the Green Party are also making gains. Reform UK, which is trying to usurp the Conservatives from the right, can also point to a successful set of election results, even thought it contested a minority of council seats.

The party's threat to the Conservatives was evident in Blackpool South, where it was less than 200 votes from second place.

Labour has won in areas, which voted heavily for Britain's departure from the European Union and where it was crushed by Johnson, such as Hartlepool in the northeast of England, and Thurrock in southeast England. It also seized control of Rushmoor, a leafy and military-heavy council in the south of England where it has never won.

John Curtice, professor of politics at the University of Strathclyde, said the results so far indicate that the Conservatives are losing around half of the seats they are trying to defend. “We are probably looking at certainly one of the worst, if not the worst, Conservative performances in local government elections for the last 40 years," he told BBC radio.

The results will roll in through Saturday. Sunak hopes that he can point to successes, notably in several key mayoral races, to douse talk that the Conservative Party will change its leader again before the UK's main election.