Local elections 2023: Sunak admits it will be ‘tough’ for Tories as leaders make final pitches to voters

Published

2 years ago

May 4, 2023

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Rishi Sunak admitted the local elections will be “tough” for the Conservatives as party leaders made their final pitches to voters on the eve of polls opening.

With some analysts predicting the Tories could lose 1,000 seats, the prime minister was managing expectations on the campaign trail in Buckinghamshire.

Asked how badly his party might perform, Mr Sunak said: “We’ve always said these are going to be a tough set of elections for us.”

Politics live: Cost of living dominates as Sunak and Starmer clash on eve of local elections in England

He added: “We are concentrating on delivering on people’s priorities.

“So at a local level, that’s about low council tax where Conservative areas have a council tax that is on average £80 lower than Labour ones; crime is lower and we fill more potholes.

“Nationally, I’m focused on my five priorities – that’s halving inflation, growing the economy, reducing debt, cutting waiting lists and stopping the boats.”

Leaders from the main parties have all been making campaign stops today.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said the country “desperately needs change” and “you can sense that in the air”.

Speaking in the Labour target of Medway, Kent, Sir Keir said: “This is going to be all about the cost of living. It’s absolutely clear the government has nothing to say about that. We’ve got a positive case to tell and we hope that we’ll be able to make some progress tomorrow.”

The election campaign comes against the backdrop of soaring inflation. But as well as the cost of living, crime and the Conservatives’ record on the NHS have been key battlegrounds for opposition parties hoping to make gains.

Meanwhile the Liberal Democrats, who are targeting rural and suburban seats held by the Tories, have put plans to tackle water quality at the heart of their messaging.

Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey said he is going into Thursday’s election feeling “very hopeful” and claimed many Conservative voters would turn to his party.

“They are increasingly fed up with the Conservatives, we are finding life-long Conservatives telling us they will never vote Conservative again”, he said.

Voters in 230 local authorities across England are going to the polls tomorrow and elections are also taking place to choose mayors in Bedford, Leicester, Mansfield and Middlesbrough.

It’s the biggest test of public opinion this side of the next general election, and Labour’s chance to prove it’s on course to form the next government, as current national polling suggests.

The Conservatives will be hoping to keep losses to a minimum, while Labour and the Lib Dems will be judged on whether their parties are able to make gains at the expense of the Tories.

People are being urged to remember their ID when going to vote – as this is the first election in England where there will be a requirement to show photographic identification before casting their ballot.

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At least 30 dead and 100 injured as armed groups clash in Syria, officials say

Published

9 hours ago

July 14, 2025

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At least 30 dead and 100 injured as armed groups clash in Syria, officials say

At least 30 people have been killed in the Syrian city of Sweida in clashes between local military groups and tribes, according to Syria’s interior ministry.

Officials say initial figures suggest around 100 people have also been injured in the city, where the Druze faith is one of the major religious groups.

The interior ministry said its forces will directly intervene to resolve the conflict, which the Reuters news agency said involved fighting between Druze gunmen and Bedouin Sunni tribes.

It marks the latest episode of sectarian violence in Syria, where fears among minority groups have increased since Islamist-led rebels toppled President Bashar al Assad in December, installing their own government and security forces.

The violence reportedly erupted after a wave of kidnappings, including the abduction of a Druze merchant on Friday on the highway linking Damascus to Sweida.

Last April, Sunni militia clashed with armed Druze residents of Jaramana, southeast of Damascus, and fighting later spread to another district near the capital.

But this is the first time the fighting has been reported inside the city of Sweida itself, the provincial capital of the mostly Druze province.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reports the fighting was centred in the Maqwas neighbourhood east of Sweida and villages on the western and northern outskirts of the city.

It adds that Syria’s Ministry of Defence has deployed military convoys to the area.

Western nations, including the US and UK, have been increasingly moving towards normalising relations with Syria.

Concerns among minority groups have intensified following the killing of hundreds of Alawites in March, in apparent retaliation for an earlier attack carried out by Assad loyalists.

That was the deadliest sectarian flare-up in years in Syria, where a 14-year civil war ended with Assad fleeing to Russia after his government was overthrown by rebel forces.

The city of Sweida is in southern Syria, about 24 miles (38km) north of the border with Jordan.

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Meredith Kercher’s killer faces new trial over sexual assault allegations

Published

21 hours ago

July 13, 2025

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Meredith Kercher's killer faces new trial over sexual assault allegations

The man convicted of the murder of British student Meredith Kercher has been charged with sexual assault against an ex-girlfriend.

Rudy Guede, 38, was the only person who was definitively convicted of the murder of 21-year-old Ms Kercher in Perugia, Italy, back in 2007.

He will be standing trial again in November after an ex-girlfriend filed a police report in the summer of 2023 accusing Guede of mistreatment, personal injury and sexual violence.

Guede, from the Ivory Coast, was released from prison for the murder of Leeds University student Ms Kercher in 2021, after having served about 13 years of a 16-year sentence.

Since last year – when this investigation was still ongoing – Guede has been under a “special surveillance” regime, Sky News understands, meaning he was banned from having any contact with the woman behind the sexual assault allegations, including via social media, and had to inform police any time he left his city of residence, Viterbo, as ruled by a Rome court.

Guede has been serving a restraining order and fitted with an electronic ankle tag.

The Kercher murder case, in the university city of Perugia, was the subject of international attention.

Ms Kercher, a 21-year-old British exchange student, was found murdered in the flat she shared with her American roommate, Amanda Knox.

The Briton’s throat had been cut and she had been stabbed 47 times.

Ms Knox and her then-boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, were placed under suspicion.

Both were initially convicted of murder, but Italy’s highest court overturned their convictions, acquitting them in 2015.

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IDF blames ‘technical error’ after Gaza officials say children collecting water killed in strike

Published

24 hours ago

July 13, 2025

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IDF blames 'technical error' after Gaza officials say children collecting water killed in strike

The Israeli military says it missed its intended target after Gaza officials said 10 Palestinians – including six children – were killed in a strike at a water collection point.

Another 17 people were wounded in the strike on a water distribution point in Nuseirat refugee camp, said Ahmed Abu Saifan, an emergency physician at Al Awda Hospital.

The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said it had intended to hit an Islamic Jihad militant but a “technical error with the munition” had caused the missile to fall “dozens of metres from the target”.

The IDF said the incident is under review, adding that it “works to mitigate harm to uninvolved civilians as much as possible” and “regrets any harm to uninvolved civilians”.

Officials at Al Awda Hospital said it received 10 bodies after the Israeli strike on the water collection point and six children were among the dead.

Ramadan Nassar, who lives in the area, said around 20 children and 14 adults were lined up Sunday morning to fill up water.

When the strike occurred, everyone ran and some, including those who were severely injured, fell to the ground, he said.

In total, 19 people were killed in Israeli strikes in the Gaza Strip on Sunday, local health officials said.

Two women and three children were among nine killed after an Israeli strike on a home in the central town of Zawaida, officials at Al Aqsa Martyrs Hospital said.

Israel has claimed it hit more than 150 targets in the besieged enclave in the past day.

The latest strikes come after the Israel military opened fire near an aid centre in Rafah on Saturday. The Red Cross said 31 people were killed.

The IDF has said it fired “warning shots” near the aid distribution site but it was “not aware of injured individuals” as a result.

The war in Gaza started in response to Hamas’s attack on Israel on 7 October 2023, which killed 1,200 people and saw about 250 taken hostage.

More than 58,000 Palestinians have since been killed, with more than half being women and children, according to Gaza’s health ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count.

US President Donald Trump has said he is closing in on another ceasefire agreement that would see more hostages released and potentially wind down the war.

But after two days of talks this week with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, there were no signs of a breakthrough, as a new sticking point emerged over the deployment of Israeli troops during the truce.

Hamas still holds 50 hostages, with fewer than half of them believed to be alive, after most of the rest were released in ceasefire agreements or other deals.