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00:00 Well France 24's International Affairs Editor Angela Diffley is with me.
00:04 Angela, give us a sense of the issues that could be affecting this.
00:08 Yes, well like in many countries around the world, the cost of living was probably everybody's number one priority.
00:16 Inflation is high in Britain. Also because Britain is very reliant on gas,
00:22 energy prices in Britain are really a problem for very many households
00:27 and that is everyone has cited that as a key factor in their voting intentions.
00:33 As well as that I would say public services, a perception that public services are declining.
00:39 That has often been cited as a priority for voters.
00:44 The Tories have been in power, the Conservatives have been in power since 2010.
00:49 In the early years of the Conservative governments, they were very keen to pursue a policy of austerity,
01:00 not being generous with public services. Many people would say being far too mean with them.
01:05 Many people say they have declined, the quality is bad.
01:08 We've seen a series of strikes in Britain, the National Health Service, nurses, doctors,
01:13 trains and several other sectors as well.
01:16 There is a perception that public services have not been given the attention they need under the Tories.
01:22 The third big issue is scandal.
01:25 The last few years since 2019, since the last local elections, under the Conservatives,
01:31 we are now on the fourth Conservative Prime Minister, Theresa May, ousted for her handling of Brexit.
01:37 Boris Johnson, where do you begin? A rollercoaster Prime Ministership.
01:42 And he was obviously ousted because of the Partygate scandal, holding parties during Covid.
01:48 Liz Truss, economic meltdown.
01:51 Now, things appear steadier under Rishi Sunak, but a lot of voters want to punish the Tories.
01:56 And that's one of the reasons for their low polling last night.
02:00 It should be said, local elections are about collecting bins, schools,
02:03 but often they are informed by wider priorities as well.
02:09 Which is a good point because we are probably a year away from a general election, a date still to be fixed.
02:14 There's a really good quote I heard overnight from a Conservative strategist saying,
02:18 we predicted an apocalypse, therefore a disaster doesn't look so bad.
02:21 Yeah, they were certainly trying to downplay expectations, lower expectations.
02:28 The Tories knew they were probably in for a hiding.
02:31 And so far, the results suggest they are getting one.
02:35 This election is being looked at very clearly, very carefully.
02:38 These local elections, because it's likely it's the last time Britons will go to the ballot box
02:42 before expected general elections next year.
02:46 They have to be held by 2025.
02:47 They'll probably be held next year.
02:50 One thing the Tories will take comfort from is that when you look at the two party leaders of the two main parties in Britain,
02:57 Rishi Sunak, the new prime minister who came in in October, is polling slightly higher.
03:02 I think we have a graph polling slightly higher than the leader of the Labour Party, Keir Starmer.
03:07 That, of course, could change in the next year.
03:10 A lot of people have been asking me...
03:11 He's close, but he is just on top, isn't he?
03:12 He's 37, 36, that's it.
03:15 A lot of people have also been asking me how Brexit is affecting elections in the UK.
03:21 And it is very interesting for the Tories.
03:25 There has very recently, polls have shown that a narrow majority of Britons now wish they had not chosen to leave the European Union.
03:32 So it is not an easy subject now for the Conservatives, an even harder subject for Labour,
03:37 which was massively divided last time around.
03:40 They are very keen to avoid it.
03:41 So it might surface unwelcomely to those two parties,
03:45 but it might surface over the next year for the moment they are avoiding it.
03:48 Angela, let's see the rest of those results come through.
03:50 Angela Diffley, our international affairs editor.