“Theresa May has been dilly dallying, shilly shallying. I just do not want to look at her face again.” The disgusted words of one defeated Conservative candidate at the local election count in Trafford last night will be echoed by many a Tory contender whose electoral hopes have been dashed.

Michelle McGrath had contested the Brooklands ward of Trafford, which the party won with a majority of more than 1,000 in 2015. Yesterday she lost, with 1,295 votes to Labour’s 1,596. And the blame for her defeat lay, in her view, squarely with May’s faltering Government.

“Absolutely it was the national issues,” she said. “It was Brexit without a doubt – the handling of it.” Calling for May to go, she added: “As far as I am concerned she was never capable of negotiating for the UK.”

Defeat was particularly agonising for the local party in what was once the Conservatives’ flagship northern council and, until last year, its only one in Greater Manchester. For 14 years the Tories had retained control locally, winning power from Labour in 2004. In 2018, the local authority was left with no party in overall control after the Tories lost five seats there. Then, yesterday, for the first time since 2003, the council swung back to Labour, who gained six seats while the Tories lost nine.

The Liberal Democrats, who looked to be the early winners nationally, gained two seats in Trafford and the Greens one, on a turn-out of 39.5 per cent.

Conservative councillor Paul Lally, who was not up for reelection in Trafford’s Flixton ward, agreed that voters’ anger over goings-on in Westminster had worked against his party locally.

“It is a perfect storm,” he reflected. “The national picture isn’t good for both major parties, together with the Conservatives having control for many years. The minor political parties have done really well. Read more

Also Read: Brexit Backlash in U.K. Local Elections as Main Parties Lose Seats

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