Pressure on May to quit after losses at local polls

Conservative councillors and MPs have called for Theresa May to step down after the party lost nearly 500 seats in local elections dominated by the UK’s Brexit stalemate.Council leaders called for the prime minister to consider her position, while others said they had made gains despite the government’s paralysis since the 2016 EU referendum.A heckler interrupted May as she gave a speech in Wales, saying: “Why don’t you resign? We don’t want you.” With 114 out of 248 councils declared at 12.30pm yesterday, the Tories had lost councillors in 70 areas.Among the more surprising results was the party’s loss of Cotswold district council after 16 years, with the Liberal Democrats now in charge.The Conservative group leader, Tony Berry, said it was a “very unusual set of circumstances” because of Brexit and “professional politicians who are basically working for themselves rather than necessarily what is best for the country”.Delivering a message to the prime minister, he said: “I would ask her to consider her position very carefully.”In Bath and North East Somerset, where the Liberal Democrats won control, Tory losses included the council leader, Tim Warren, who said councillors had been “given a kicking for something that wasn’t our fault”.Asked whether there needed to be changes in leadership or policies at the top of the party, Warren replied: “There needs to be a change in action.” The Tories also lost Chelmsford, where the LibDems overturned a 45-seat majority, and Somerset West and Taunton, where May’s party lost 31 councillors.Other home counties losses for the Conservatives included Basildon, Southend-on-Sea, Folkestone & Hythe, St Albans and Welwyn Hatfield.A succession of pro-Leave Tories yesterday called for May to step down. The MP Crispin Blunt said the party needed a new leader.He said: “I’ve been trying to get her out openly since December. Lots of people are trying to get the message over.” Sir Bernard Jenkin said voters thought the prime minister had “lost the plot”.“Certainly, among Conservative activists and council candidates, there is an almost universal feeling that it is time for her to move on,” he said.The Scottish Tory leader, Ruth Davidson, said voters were angry over the impasse on Brexit.“It seems to be ‘a plague on both your houses’ to the Conservatives and the Labour party, who they see as a block on finding some sort of resolution to Brexit,” she said.