United Kingdom: Boris Johnson's Conservatives sanctioned, according to the first results of the local elections

The first results of the local elections in the United Kingdom appear as a sanction for the Conservative party.

Boris Johnson's party has lost key local councils in London according to the first results of an election which is a test for the Prime Minister and promises to be historic in Northern Ireland.

The Labor opposition won the local councils of Westminster in London, in the hands of the Tories since its creation in 1964, Barnet as well as Wandsworth, "favourite council" of former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.

Labor also won Southampton in the south of the country.

Outside the capital, however, the party is making only limited gains so far, while smaller parties, the Liberal Democrats, are doing well.

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Although traditionally marked by very local issues and low participation, these elections which were held on Thursday should in particular make it possible to gauge in British opinion the extent of the damage of the holiday scandal in Downing Street during the confinements.

A long-term affair which earned Boris Johnson a fine.

In power for 12 years, the Conservatives have been criticized for their insufficient support for households strangled by inflation, which should peak this year at more than 10% according to the central bank.

A political earthquake in Northern Ireland

For now, the results of just over a third of the 200 local councils in play have fallen.

Vote counting in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland is due to start in the morning.

In Northern Ireland, a political earthquake is looming: the polls give Sinn Fein the lead in the local Assembly for the first time in a hundred years of history of the British province, under tension since Brexit.

A victory for Sinn Fein, the former political showcase of the paramilitary organization Irish Republican Army (IRA), would propel its vice-president Michelle O'Neill to the post of head of local government.

This position is to be run jointly by nationalists and unionists under the 1998 peace agreement. A victory for Sinn Fein, which advocates reunification with the Republic of Ireland, would initiate a possible redefinition of the United Kingdom.

But could also lead to paralysis.