British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was dealt a major political blow on Friday as the governing Conservatives suffered a bruising in two key by-elections but averted a complete whitewash as the party held on to his former boss Boris Johnson’s seat in London.
Thursday’s three-way by-election was widely pitched as a report card on the 43-year-old British Indian leader’s handling of the economy and wider prospects as party leader going into a general election, expected in the second half of 2024.
The Tories’ narrow victory in the suburban seat of Uxbridge, which they won by 495 votes, spared Sunak the humiliation of being the first PM for 55 years to lose three by-elections in one night.
Conservative Steve Tuckwell just about holding on to Uxbridge and South Ruislip, Johnson’s seat, until he stepped down in the wake of a parliamentary inquiry into party gate inquiry last month, was the only bit of good news for the party.During a visit to Uxbridge soon after the results on Friday morning, Sunak said the victory there showed that the next general election was not “a done deal”.
Asked what the defeats meant for his party, Sunak replied: “The message I take away is that we’ve got to double down, stick to our plan and deliver for people.”The Opposition Labour Party overturned a massive Tory majority of over 20,000 to decisively clinch the Selby and Ainsty constituency in northern England, a by-election triggered by the resignation of close Boris Johnson ally Nigel Adams.“This is a historic result that shows that people are looking at Labour and seeing a changed party that is focused entirely on the priorities of working people with an ambitious, practical plan to deliver,” said Labour Leader Keir Starmer.With the big win, his namesake 25-year-old Keir Mather overtook Indian-origin Labour MP Nadia Whittome as the so-called “Baby of the House” to become the youngest member of Parliament. It will be a long wait, though, for him to take his seat in the House of Commons, which is now on its summer recess and resumes only in early September.In a second bruising for the Sunak-led Conservatives, the Liberal Democrats swept the Somerset and Frome byelections in southwest England. Sarah Dyke, a Somerset councillor with a farming background, secured a dramatic victory by winning 21,187 votes, with Conservative Faye Purbrick left far behind in second place with 10,179 votes.