Scottish Tory MP warns against sacking Sunak after tough English elections

A Scottish Tory MP has warned changing prime minister in the wake of bleak results in England’s local elections would only lead to further misery at the ballot box for the Conservatives.

Andrew Bowie acknowledged it had been a “tough set of elections” for the Tories, with them losing more than 470 councillors – just under half of the seats they were defending.

Rishi Sunak’s party returned fewer elected members than the Liberal Democrats, while Labour picked up 180 and took control of eight councils – including in areas with seats considered as bellwethers for general elections.

But Bowie insisted there were still positives to take from the results, including a mayoral victory in Tees Valley for Lord Houchen.

Change would not be received well

It had been reported Sunak could face a leadership challenge if the Tories took heavy losses and lost high-profile mayors.

Bowie warned any change would not be well received by voters and could see further losses at the next general election.

The West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine MP said: “If we were to change leader again, I think people would understandably roll their eyes and really never give us their consideration when it comes to the election.

“We need to show we are serious about dealing with the challenges and not focused on petty political games, which I think the public has had far too much of in recent years.”

The results are only partially useful for working out the national picture, because independents feature more strongly in local votes.

There were also no contests in Scotland and Northern Ireland, whilst only police and crime commissioners were elected in Wales.

‘Time to get back to work’

Bowie called on his Conservative colleagues to go back to work and prove to voters they can do what is necessary to turn the economy around.

He said: “Local elections tend to be a point where people express their frustration with the government. You can see by turnout across the country, some of the local elections didn’t even have upwards of 30%.

“You need to take all of those results with a pinch of salt. I think there’s a real sense of apathy, a real frustration with the government. I understand that. Times are tough.

“So we just really need to do what we can to improve the situation so people begin to feel better about our own situation, about the national situation, and I think that will happen.

“There’s no point in panicking. I think we just need to get on with the job.”

It was a far better set of elections for the Liberal Democrats, including taking control of Dorset Council from the Conservatives.

Challenge could come in weeks

Orkney and Shetland Lib Dem MP Alistair Carmichael said the results had been “catastrophically bad” for the Tories.

He said the vote would give confidence to his party because the performance had been strong where it matters most – areas it plans to target at the next general election.

Carmichael suggested Sunak could face a leadership challenge before he even has a chance to set out the date for the vote.

He said: “I think the longer it goes on, the worse it gets for Rishi Sunak.

“He’ll be holding his breath for the next couple of weeks to make sure no one is going to challenge his own position.”

Meanwhile, Labour’s deputy campaign coordinator said her party needs to rebuild trust with Muslim voters following an apparent backlash over its stance on Gaza.

Ellie Reeves said it had “a lot of work to do” before the general election.

There are suggestions Labour’s position on the Israel-Hamas war may have dented support in Muslim areas.

There was a 21% drop in votes since 2021 in places where more than one in five residents identify as Muslim.

What does it say about the next election?

However, the biggest drops were largely confined to areas where the party’s support was already strong so it is not clear how that would translate at a general election where turnouts tend to be significantly higher.

Labour called for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza conflict in February after months of wrangling over its position.

Its initial policy of calling for humanitarian pauses prompted resignations in councils and from its frontbench.

The Greens, who called for an immediate ceasefire just over a week after the war began, also increased their share of the vote from 2021.