A man puts up 'polling station' signs at a makeshift polling station set up at St John's Parish Hall in central London, May 7, as polls over for local elections. AFP-Yonhap
LONDON — British voters cast ballots Thursday in midterm local and regional elections that could shake up the country's politics and deliver a heavy blow to embattled Prime Minister Keir Starmer .
Starmer’s center-left Labour Party is bracing for big losses in polls that will choose about 5,000 local councilors and a handful of mayors across England, as well as semiautonomous parliaments in Scotland and Wales.
Polls opened at 7 a.m. and will close at 10 p.m. (2100 GMT). Some local authorities will count ballots overnight, but the bulk of the results are likely to be declared on Friday afternoon.
Local elections usually focus on issues like garbage collection, graffiti and potholes, but Starmer’s opponents have painted Thursday's vote as a referendum on the prime minister.
A rout could trigger moves by restive Labour lawmakers to oust a leader who led them to power less than two years ago. Even if Starmer survives for now, many analysts doubt he will lead the party into the next national election, which must be held by 2029.
Starmer’s popularity has plunged after repeated missteps since he became prime minister in July 2024. His government has struggled to deliver promised economic growth, repair tattered public services and ease the cost of living — tasks made harder by the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran, which has choked off oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz.
Starmer has been further hurt by his disastrous decision to appoint Peter Mandelson, a scandal-tarnished friend of Jeffrey Epstein, as Britain’s ambassador to Washington.
Labour is defending about 2,500 seats on English local councils, and party members are apprehensive it may lose many of them.
Starmer has already survived a crisis in February, when some Labour lawmakers, including the party’s leader in Scotland, urged him to quit over the Mandelson appointment.
Source: Korea Times News
