LONDON — Has the political tide in Britain now turned? And is the Labour Party under Prime Minister Gordon Brown now heading for defeat?

Certainly if one goes by the recent British local election results, including the election of a colorful new Conservative Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, things look very black for the Labour government and very sunny for the Conservatives under David Cameron.

Hundreds of seats in local authorities have been changing hands, with Conservative victories everywhere, even in some traditional Labour heartland areas in the industrial Midlands and North.