Rishi Sunak faces his first major political test as British prime minister next week in local elections, where the opposition Labour Party aims to capitalize on a year of Conservative instability ahead of a national election likely next year.

Since October, Sunak has worked to restore the Conservative Party’s reputation, but despite Brexit achievements, he has not ended his predecessors’ chaos.

Sunak inherited a double-digit Labour poll advantage from Boris Johnson’s scandal-ridden government and Liz Truss’s catastrophic economic policies, which drove her down in two months.

Local council elections in most of England on May 4 allow Labor to test their electoral mettle amid a cost-of-living crisis and 10% inflation.

Keir Starmer is eyeing southwest England areas like Swindon to win the next national election before January 2025.

Labor launched its local election campaign in Swindon since it has elected legislators from the winning party in every national election since 1983.

“It’s obviously a key staging post in terms of where we anticipate the next general election will be,” Jonathan Reynolds, a Labour legislator in Starmer’s shadow cabinet, told Reuters in Swindon.

He was optimistic ahead of the vote, mirroring surveys that gave Labour an average advantage of 15 percentage points, down from Truss’s 30-point lead.

Ipsos director of politics Keiran Pedley said Sunak had been a steadying influence but would have to deliver on problems like living costs to boost his party’s ratings before the next national election.

“Whilst Sunak’s personal poll ratings aren’t great, they’re not toxic in the way that his predecessors have been,” he added.

Council elections can show public sentiment, although protest votes might overestimate the government’s unpopularity or be influenced by local considerations.

Swindon Borough Council Conservative leader David Renard said the national picture might affect his efforts to focus the campaign on local problems.

“Whilst I think most voters think the prime minister and the chancellor have steadied the ship in the last few months, there’s still a little bit of residual anger about some of the things that went on last year,” he told Reuters.

Swindon had rail works until 1986. As a result, the borough contains numerous rich neighborhoods, although several are among the 10% most impoverished in the nation.

According to the ONS, car manufacturing made Swindon one of Britain’s most productive cities outside London in 2021. Honda closed Swindon that year. The facility will house Panattoni’s logistics and manufacturing base.

Zurich Insurance launched its new Swindon office complex this month. However, local Labour councilor Jim Robbins said the town center required more renovation due to shifting working patterns since the COVID-19 epidemic.

“That there is a lot of Conservative chaos” is shown by national headlines like Dominic Raab’s resignation after a bullying inquiry.

“It does feel like the mood is changing in Swindon as its changing in the rest of the country,” he told Reuters.

Many town center voters disliked the Conservatives but sympathized with Sunak.

Marketing executive Carolyn Hyland, 57, said she would vote for Labour next week but was hesitant about a general election.

“I like Rishi Sunak. “He’s principled,” she remarked. “He’s attempting transparency. But the past leadership’s legacy will remain.”