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4 Maggio 2024Portraits to Dream In
4 Maggio 2024
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| Hello. Today we’re looking at this week’s local elections in England and Wales, which highlight Conservative struggles ahead of general elections taking place in the coming year. Sir John Curtice, a professor of politics and renowned election researcher, has offered his analysis to the BBC. We’re also hearing from Liberia, where President Joseph Boakai intends to set up a first war crimes court looking at decades of civil conflict. Today’s edition is decidedly for our most Anglophile readers, with a piece on the London Underground, and another on royal calligraphy. |
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| QUESTIONS ANSWERED |
| Why UK Conservatives remain in deep electoral trouble |
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| Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s Conservatives lost four councils and more than 200 councillors in England. Credit: Reuters |
| England and Wales have voted in local elections on Thursday, providing some insights on the mood of the British electorate ahead of upcoming general elections. Even as the Conservatives faced a dire election day, the results highlight some pain points for the opposition Labour party. |
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| Sir John Curtice, University of Strathclyde |
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| How bad a day is it for Conservatives? |
| Some of their losses were inevitable. Most of the seats being elected on Thursday were previously contested in May 2021, when the Conservatives were six points ahead of Labour in the national polls. The scale of their reverses will worry the Conservatives. They have lost half of the council seats they were trying to defend. |
| What does the data say? |
| The detailed voting figures in 800 key wards collected by the BBC suggest the Conservatives’ local election performance is one of its worst ever. According to the BBC’s projected national share, an estimate of how the country would have voted if local elections had taken place everywhere, the Conservatives’ tally was just 25%. However, Labour’s projected share has also fallen a point on last year to 34%, meaning the party’s nine point lead over their principal rivals has not changed. |
| Is it all bright for Labour? |
| Labour’s vote did not hold up everywhere. The party suffered a loss of support in particular in many of those wards that have a relatively large Muslim population, a pattern that cost the party control of Oldham. It seems that Sir Keir Starmer’s on Gaza has cost his party support. |
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- Not over: More results will come in on Saturday, including those of London’s mayoral election. Everything can be found on our results page.
- An election in waiting: There will be a UK general election in the next nine months – but the government has yet to set a date for it. Here’s what you need to know.
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| A first war crime court for decades of bloodshed |
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| Liberia’s civil war forced thousands of people to flee. Credit: Getty Images |
| Liberian President Joseph Boakai has signed an executive order to establish the country’s first war crimes court, more than 20 years after the end of two civil wars which killed 250,000 people. The 1989-2003 conflicts saw atrocities including mass killings, rape and the forced recruitment of child soldiers. |
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| Moses Kollie Garzeawu, BBC News |
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| Joseph Boakai said Liberia had “endured downpours of agony”. Critics in Liberia have opposed the creation of the court, saying it risks reopening old wounds. But Mr Boakai said the court would “help ferret the causes and effects of the violence” and bring about “justice and healing”. Adama K Dempster, one of the lead campaigners for the establishment of a war crimes court told the BBC that although some people criticised Mr Boakai for making an “emotional” decision, it will bring closure for many others. “It’s an open show of support for war victims and survivors of the civil wars,” he said. No-one has been tried in Liberia but some perpetrators have been convicted in other countries. Liberia’s former President Charles Taylor is currently serving a 50-year sentence for war crimes in the United Kingdom but that was for his role in the conflict in neighbouring Sierra Leone. |
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| Readying for war? |
| As Nato-sceptic Donald Trump bids to return to the White House, Nick Beake and Oksana Antonenko discuss how European countries are preparing for a potential broader conflict on the continent. |
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| THE BIG PICTURE |
| When the gap can’t be bridged |
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| Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. |
| “Mind the gap” might be the phrase you associate the most with London – it has made its way from underground stations to coffee mugs. But can the gap between the train and the platform always be minded? In some unfortunate cases, the distance has proven too great and led to dramatic injuries. |
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https://www.bbc.com/
