Theresa May braced for council losses as Tories head for 'all-time low' in London
2 min read
Theresa May will survive as Prime Minister despite the Conservatives heading for their worst-ever performance in London in the May local elections, a leading pollster has predicted.
Tory peer Lord Hayward said the Tories could end with fewer than the 519 seats they were left with in the capital following the 1992 council elections.
But he said Mrs May's position will be saved by the Conservative vote holding up in the east and west Midlands, as well as her response to the poisoning of Russian ex-spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter in Salisbury.
Voters will go to the polls throughout England to elect their local councils on 3 May.
In London, some 1,850 council seats in 32 boroughs are up for grabs. In 2014, the last time the same seats were fought, Labour won 1,060 and control of 20 councils to the Tories’ 615 seats and nine councils.
Lord Hayward said the Tories are virtually certain to see more councils fall to Labour and the Lib Dems, while they face a fight to hang onto flagship local authorities in Westminster, Wandsworth and Kensington and Chelsea.
Some Tory MPs have said that Mrs May could face a leadership challenge if the party performs particularly badly.
Lord Hayward said: "I would be surprised if the Tories did not have an all-time low of councillors in London despite Theresa’s May progress in recent weeks
"We are seeing an incredible demographic shift and Labour were very successful in the general election and I would expect that to continue in 2018.
"I expect the Tories to lose seats overall and the Liberal Democrats to gain seats in some parts of the country.
"I don’t expect them to lose to such an extent that it would endanger Theresa May’s prime ministership."
However, he added that while Jeremy Corbyn will enjoy a good night in London, Labour should be doing "far better" outside the capital.
The Tory peer also said that Ukip will virtually "disappear" off the electoral map as they lose almost all the seats they currently hold.
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