Blow for Sunak as Tories lose two previously safe seats

LONDON: Britain´s Conservative Party lost two parliamentary seats to Labour on Friday, another setback for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and his ruling party ahead of a general election expected next year.

In both by-elections, Labour overturned huge majorities to further fuel hopes of a return to power after nearly 14 years in opposition. These losses were just the latest in a string of traditionally safe Tory seats captured by rival parties in recent years.

Labour had played down its prospects in the Conservatives´ previously “super safe” seats of Tamworth and Mid Bedfordshire, both in central England. They became vacant after their MPs quit, one stepping down following sexual misconduct allegations.

But Britain´s ailing economy, the worst cost-of-living crisis in decades and several years of tumult within the Tories, who had three leaders within three months last year, contributed to these latest results.

In Mid Bedfordshire, a Conservative-held seat for almost a century, Labour overturned a majority of nearly 25,000 -- the biggest by-election swing since 1945.

Labour leader Keir Starmer hailed the wins as “a piece of history” showing his party had “changed”, after it registered its worst election performance in decades in 2019 under then leader Jeremy Corbyn.

“People are fed up to the back teeth,” he said in Tamworth, having earlier visited Mid Bedfordshire. Labour represented “a fresh start” after “13 years of decline under this government”, he said.

Polling expert John Curtice said the results were “extremely bad news” for the Conservatives and suggested they will lose the next general election. They currently hold a large overall majority in parliament.