The World - News from May 8, 1987

Britons chose local officials in nationwide elections. With 250 of 369 council races decided, the British Broadcasting Corp. projected that if a national election were held now, Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s Conservative Party would lose 59 of its 399 seats but still control the 650-seat House of Commons. Thatcher is considering calling parliamentary elections a year before her current five-year term ends, most likely next month. The BBC projected that the Conservatives would win 40% of the popular vote in a national election, Labor 31%, the middle-of-the-road alliance between the Liberal and Social Democratic parties 27% and other parties 2%.