Democrats in London hailed their sweeping victories in the US midterms as a "repudiation of Donald Trump's policies and behaviour," suggesting the political shock in Washington could lead to some of Trump's tariffs being reversed, including those on the UK.
The Democrats gained control of both the Senate and the House of Representatives, with results far worse for Trump than expected. They won Senate seats in the former Republican strongholds of Texas, Kansas, South Carolina, Ohio, Maine and Iowa, and flipped numerous seats in states including Kentucky, New Jersey, Indiana and North Carolina to regain control of the House for the first time since 2023.
London leaders react to Democrat victories
In Britain, London Mayor Lord Sadiq Khan, who has clashed repeatedly with Trump, said voters had rejected his "divisive and damaging politics." The midterms were seen as a referendum on the US president, with the scale of the Democrat victory reflecting deep voter discontent over the cost of living, tariffs and high energy prices fuelled by the Iran war he launched with Israel earlier this year.
Speaking to The London Standard as the results came in, John Scardino of Democrats Abroad UK said: "There are a couple of takeaways from this. Number one, I think this is a repudiation of Trump's policies and behaviour."
Voter discontent over economy and war
Scardino added: "He made promises and people voted for him based on those promises back in the election of 2024. Number one obviously was to get the economy on the right track, lowering prices and making living expenses more affordable. He hasn't done that. In fact, he's done exactly the opposite by breaking his second promise, which was no new wars..by starting a war with Iran."
He described Trump as "technically a lame duck president," having lost the power to push legislation through Congress, but stressed he still retained executive powers, including on foreign policy, amid fears that the US president could now ramp up his Middle East war.
Americans in London celebrate results
Asked whether most Americans in London were Democrats or Republicans, Scardino said: "The conventional wisdom is that Americans overseas, if you take out the military that are serving on bases around the UK and overseas, generally speaking, the civilian population of Americans tends to be Left, more liberal, Democratic leaning." Pressed on whether this meant most Americans in the UK capital would be celebrating the midterm results, he added: "Certainly."
Jennifer Ewing of Republicans Overseas UK said the heavy losses for her party were "100% a referendum and a rejection of many of the Trump policies." She told LBC Radio: "The problem that happened is that Trump ran on being a populist, ran on an America First agenda, of close the border. He gets an A plus for that, but of cost of living and of no new wars in the Middle East. So where are we? We've got a cost of living problem, and we're in a war with Iran."
Ewing explained: "So the voters, including a lot of Republicans, have turned around and said, 'No, it's not good enough. You know, we lent you our vote.' Many of the independents did. Young people did. Hispanics did. And they took those votes away. Many people didn't show up. But this was 100% a referendum and a rejection of many of the Trump policies."
Pressed on whether she had some sympathy with Trump, she added: "No. He should not have gone to war with Iran."
