Sunak’s Tories face bruising UK local council results after by-election drubbing

The Tories avoided the humiliation of coming third in Blackpool South, but finished just 117 votes ahead of Reform UK

The strong showing by Reform UK will add to Tory unease about Rishi Sunak’s ability to lead the party to a general election victory

British prime minister Rishi Sunak has suffered a by-election drubbing and faces further pain in council contests across England.

Labour’s Chris Webb won the Blackpool South parliamentary seat with a swing of 26.33% from the Tories and Keir Starmer’s party also secured council wins in areas which will be key general election battlegrounds later this year.