May survives 'assault' on London by rival Labour in local election

LONDON - Britain's main opposition Labour council failed in its bid to seize control of key London councils, including the City of Westminster, in England's local elections.

As results from town hall across the country poured in Friday, it was clear Prime Minister Theresa May's Conservatives did not suffer any serious damage.

But there was bad news for UKIP, the party set up to campaign for Britain to leave the European Union. With more than two thirds of the 150 results announced, UKIP had held on to two seats on local councils and lost 92, putting a question mark on the party's survival.

Elections expert John Curtice said the Conservatives performed relatively well in areas where there had been substantial leave vote in the EU referendum. Labour, meanwhile, did better where the remain vote had been stronger.

Labour had set its sights on gaining control of a number of key town halls in London, but its assault failed. In Barnet it needed to gain just one seat to take control, but instead the Conservatives became the majority party in the borough.

Labour also failed to make big wins, or take control in other key traditional Conservative councils in London, including Wandsworth, Westminster, and Kensington and Chelsea.

Conservative Party chairman Brandon Lewis said Labour had claimed the whole of London was going to turn red, but "they have not gained a single council".

"I think it's been a good night for us and it's been a dreadful night for Labour," Lewis said on BBC radio.

There was some good electoral news for Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, with his winning control from the Conservatives of Trafford in Greater Manchester and the coastal city of Plymouth.

There was also encouraging news for the minority Liberal Democrats, which suffered heavy defeats as it paid the price for going into a coalition with the Conservatives in the 2010 general election. They gained control of Richmond council and retained power in Cheltenham, Sutton and Eastleigh.

The Guardian newspaper commented: "Overall, in the first major test of voter opinion since last year's general election, the main parties remained deadlocked, a result more likely to buoy Theresa May, who at one point had faced predictions of a leadership challenge if the local polls had gone badly for her."

The consensus of opinion in the British media Friday was that with most of the results in, the election had been a night of mixed fortunes for the two big political rivals, the Conservatives and Labour.