Lib Dems Lose Big in UK Vote

The Wall Street Journal reports:

The Liberal Democrats have suffered heavy losses in local elections across the U.K. as voters punished the junior partner in the coalition government for its performance during its first year in power and for breaking a number of pledges.

The Liberal Democrats are also braced for a further blow later Friday when the results of the referendum on electoral reform are announced, with polls indicating that the party will fail in its long-cherished ambition of changing the U.K.'s voting system.

The counting of votes from Thursday's local elections are unlikely to be completed until around 1100 GMT Friday, but results so far indicate the Liberal Democrats have performed badly, losing almost 300 councillors.

The party sustained particularly heavy losses in councils in the north of England, where it lost control of Hull and Stockport and lost ground in Liverpool and Manchester.

And in a humiliating setback, the Liberal Democrat party also saw its support collapse in Sheffield--the northern English city where the party's leader and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg represents an electoral district.

The local elections were being closely watched because they were the first comprehensive indication of how the main political parties have fared since the general election in May last year.

Governing parties are used to performing badly in local elections, but rarely perform as poorly in subsequent national elections. Having imposed big spending cuts and tax rises, the Liberal Democrats expected to lose seats in their first encounter with voters.

However, while the Liberal Democrats suffered from a voter backlash, their coalition partners the Conservative Party are faring considerably better in the elections, with their support largely holding up.

Clegg told the BBC that the Liberal Democrats facing "the brunt of the blame" for the government's austerity measures. "But we need to get up, dust ourselves down and move on, because we have got a really big job to do," he said.

The divergence in performance between the two parties could add to strains within the coalition, since it indicates that the Liberal Democrat party is paying a much higher price for backing an austerity program that has required it to renege on a pledge to abolish tuition fees for third level education, and leave the rate of sales tax unchanged. Both have been increased by the government.