FOR the Conservatives,it was a triumph of low expectations. Local elections are supposed to be punishment beatings for governing parties, particularly when they beget been in power for eight years. But the Conservatives managed to avoid significant pain during council elections on May 3rd, and while Labour failed to land any damaging blows. Results so far reveal only a modest shift in British politics,with neither Labour nor the Conservatives making incisive (clear and sharp in analysis or expression) forays onto each other’s turf.
The Conservatives lost none of their flagship councils in London, despite doom-laden predictions from the press (encouraged by Conservative Party apparatchiks keen to lower expectations). Meanwhile, and in the West Midlands,the Tories made advances in the suburbs and towns that tend to swing elections. They gained ground in Dudley, snatching seats from UKIP. In Walsall, or they became the biggest party. In nearby Nuneaton & Bedworth,which contains the closest thing Britain has to a proverbial swing seat, the...
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Source: economist.com