Tories Lose Control of 10 Local Councils; Centrists Post Gains

Britain’s alliance of centrist parties scored big gains in local elections, drawing votes from ruling Conservative and opposition Labor parties in a midterm slap at Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s government, returns showed Friday.

The alliance--made up of the Liberal and Social Democratic parties--grabbed the balance of power in 27 of 47 areas in England and Wales but did not capture control of any local council. There was no vote in London or five other English cities or in Scotland.

Thatcher’s Conservative Party lost control of 10 councils and Neil Kinnock’s Labor Party lost five.

Voter turnout was low, reflecting boredom with parochial issues like school meals and control of police and fire services, but the election nonetheless showed Thatcher’s level of support in Britain half-way through her second term.

‘Not Surprising’

The British Broadcasting Corp. said Thatcher, in Bonn for the economic summit of major industrialized nations, regarded the results as “not surprising” for a mid-term election. Britain’s voters handed Thatcher a landslide victory for her second term in the 1983 voting.

David Steel, leader of the Liberal Party, called the local election result a “tremendous triumph” for the alliance, while political observers said it showed the centrist alliance was becoming a major force in British politics.

Steel called the result a “setback” for Labor and a “disaster” for Thatcher’s Conservatives, but Conservative Party chairman John Selwyn Gummer said his party’s performance was “creditable.”

Kinnock said Labor was confident it could win a general election if one were held now.

The results came one day after unemployment figures soared to a record 3,177,200, or 13.1% of the work force.