'General election now': Sunak urged to call national poll after heavy losses

Rishi Sunak is being urged to call an immediate general election after suffering sweeping losses at the local elections in England.

The Conservatives suffered heavy defeats in numerous local authorities and lost the Blackpool South by-election to Labour.

The Tory performance so far is thought to be the worst at a local election for 40 years, but the prime minister will be hoping to hold the West Midlands and Tees Valley mayorships which are still yet to declare.

Dozens of local authority results are yet to be announced, but the picture so far will make grim reading for the prime minister.

And opposition parties are already taking the chance to demand a general election.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said his party's "seismic win in Blackpool South is the most important result".

He added: “Our new Labour MP Chris Webb has shown that after years of neglect with the Tories, there is a better alternative. The message to Rishi Sunak is clear. It’s time for change, it’s time for a general election.”

The Liberal Democrats, who have also gained council seats, echoed Sir Keir's calls.

Deputy Leader Daisy Cooper MP said: “It’s now clear the British public have voted for change and rejected Rishi Sunak’s out of touch Conservative government. Communities are fed up with being taken for granted by the Conservative party.

“Rishi Sunak must listen to the country and immediately call a general election."

And the PM's own backbenchers are likely to be wondering whether today's results show he cannot be the person to lead the Conservatives into the next election.

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Can Rishi Sunak hold on?

Rumours had been swirling that dissenting Conservatives would plot to remove Mr Sunak if the local elections were as poor as expected and the chairman has already been forced to bat away those concerns.

Richard Holden MP described the local election results so far as “disappointing” but insisted "that’s what you’d expect from parties in midterm of government".

Asked whether the potential challenges posed to the PM and the Conservatives posed by the results would be addressed, Mr Holden said: “When people are voting in individual by-elections they know they’re not voting for the government of the country.”

“The prime minister is going to go on and lead the Conservative Party into the general election, there’s no doubt about that," he told Times Radio.

Asked whether the Tories are ready for a summer election, Mr Holden said: “Whenever the Prime Minister calls a general election, we will be ready for it.”

He added that the prime minister has indicated the vote will be in “the second half of the year, most likely in the autumn”.

Keir Starmer 'certainly' on course to become PM

Labour has suffered its own defeats, losing control of Oldham council after the success of independents who had been campaigning on a ticket supporting Gaza in the conflict with Israel.

But, ITV's elections expert Colin Rallings said based on the local election results, Sir Keir is "certainly" on course to become prime minister.

But, he said there are clearly problems in Lancashire, where Labour struggled to retain support after a number of its former councillors quit over the party’s stance on Gaza.

Mr Rallings told Good Morning Britain that Labour still needs to prove itself in a number of "Blair-era" areas which are still yet to declare, including Nuneaton and Hastings.

Sir Keir, however, has said Labour is “confident” going into the general election.

The Labour leader told the BBC: “We want that general election and we are confident going into that general election because what this by-election shows is the country wants change.

“This is a clear divide now. We have had 14 years of failure and decline, we have just got chaos and division from the Tories.”

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