UK Conservatives take battering in key local elections

By JILL LAWLESS
Associated Press

LONDON (AP) — Britain’s Conservative Party endured big losses in early results from local elections being viewed as a test of support for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s government as a national election approaches. The opposition Labour Party and Liberal Democrats made significant gains. The bulk of results were due later Friday. But the Conservatives acknowledged it had already been “a disappointing night.” Voters appeared to punish the Conservatives for the turmoil that engulfed the party under former Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his successor Liz Truss. The Conservatives had lost more than 200 seats in elections for more than 8,000 seats on 230 local councils across England with about a quarter of results in.