20 October 2023 , 18:34
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Not since Roy Castle have so many records been broken.
Labour made history with its ground-shaking double by-election victories. In Mid Bedfordshire, which Nadine Dorries won in 2019 by 24,664 votes, it was the biggest majority ever overturned at a by-election. It is the first time since 1931 that the seat has failed to return a Conservative.
In Tamworth, there was the second biggest swing at a by-election from the Conservatives to Labour since the Second World War. What has really delighted Labour is not the margin of victory but where they are winning. In the summer, they took a seat off the Tories in Selby and Ainsty in Yorkshire.
Nadine Dorries (Getty Images)Earlier this month, they beat the SNP in Rutherglen and Hamilton West. Now they have clocked up wins in Leave-voting Midlands seat, Tamworth, and the Tories’ Home Counties stronghold of Bedfordshire. Like an Oscar award-winner, Keir Starmer is cleaning up everything, everywhere all at once.
Is a landslide at the next election now on the cards? Not necessarily. History tells us that as polling day approaches the gap in the polls tends to narrow. Which is why Labour’s most dangerous enemy is not the Tories, but complacency. But history also tells us that parties scenting power are united and disciplined and those facing defeat are divided and demoralised.
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