Minister says voters 'angry, frustrated'

Lawmakers from the United Kingdom's ruling Conservative Party have expressed concern after a dismal performance in local elections.

The party, which has led the UK's central government for 13 years, was trounced in the polls, where grassroots politicians were selected to run services in many English towns, villages, and communities.

While local government elections are often seen as a platform for voters to send central governments a message, and while parties in power centrally rarely do well in mid-term local elections, the scale of Thursday's drubbing came as a shock to many Conservative Party lawmakers.

In a highly embarrassing show of dissent for the central government, Lucy Frazer, who as culture secretary is a key member of UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's government, said it was clear voters were "angry and frustrated" with the central government.

"We've been in power for a long time," she told Sky News in the wake of her party's loss of more than 1,000 seats on a day when 8,000 were contested.

In a far-from-ringing endorsement of Sunak, she said he had "started to deliver" on his promises "in a quiet way for the British people".

The Times newspaper said on Monday other voices in the Cabinet had spoken privately to reporters about their disappointment with Sunak's vow to continue to prioritize the economy and tackle migrant boat crossings when ordinary people wanted tax cuts to ease the pressure of an unprecedented cost-of-living crisis.

The criticism from within the Conservative Party came as pundits said the UK's main opposition, the Labour Party, was on course to win the next general election — slated for 2025 — and form the UK's next government.

Wes Streeting, the Labour Party's shadow health secretary, told Sky News: "I think, for the next general election, Labour feels confident but not complacent. I think those results do point to enormous progress made under Keir Starmer's leadership. He's changed the Labour Party, now he's got a hearing to be able to change the country, but there's more to do."

Ed Davey, leader of the smaller but powerful Liberal Democrats, fueled talk of an impending end of the Conservative Party's time in office by hinting that his party could form a coalition government with Labour, should it fall short of an absolute majority.

"The focus is on getting rid of Conservative (members of Parliament). I make no apology for that," he said on the BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg show.

And Streeting added: "Thursday's local election results were exactly that: local election results, not a prediction of the next general election."