16 February 2024 , 05:44
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Rishi Sunak has suffered a humiliating double by-election defeat as Keir Starmer's Labour overturned massive Tory majorities in stunning victories.
The nightmare set of results for the under-fire Prime Minister came as voters turned their backs on the Conservatives in both Kingswood and Wellingborough. The twin defeat will pile further pressure on Mr Sunak's leadership as national polls suggest the Tories are on course for a historic wipeout at the general election.
In a stonking victory Labour overturned an 18,000 majority in Wellingborough on a 28.5% swing - the second biggest from the Tories at a by-election since the Second World War. The swing is well beyond what Mr Starmer needs across the country at the general election later this year to form the first Labour government in 14 years.
Elections expert Professor John Curtice said the results showed the Tories are "still in deep, deep, electoral trouble". He said on Friday morning: “The truth is I think today Sir Keir Starmer looks as likely to be the next Prime Minister as he did 24 hours ago - if indeed not even more so".
At around 4am charity worker Gen Kitchen was elected the first Labour MP to represent Wellingborough in nearly 20 years with 13,834 votes - a 45.8% share. In her victory speech, Ms Kitchen, who said she cut short her honeymoon for the campaign, said: "The people of Wellingborough have spoken for Britain. This is a stunning victory for the Labour Party and must send a message from Northamptonshire to Downing Street."
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Labour's new MP for Wellingborough Gen Kitchen (AFP via Getty Images)The Reform UK party founded by Nigel Farage finished third with 13% of the vote, its best performance at a by-election, and candidate Ben Habib hailed it as "remarkable". Asked why people voted for him, he said: "People are absolutely fed up with the manner in which this country is being governed."
In Kingswood, Labour's new MP Damien Egan overturned a Tory majority of 11,220. The party won with a swing of 16.4% - way above the 11.4% the party needed to win the seat. After winning the seat held by the Tories since 2010, Mr Egan said in his victory speech at around 2am that 14 years of Tory rule had "sucked the hope out of the country".
Just hours after official figures showed the UK economy had plunged into a recession, he said: "There's a feeling that no matter how hard you work, you just can't move forward, and with Rishi's recession we are left once again paying more and getting less." The new MP added: "When the Prime Minister finally finds the courage to give the people a say, we're going to need each and every one of you again to come out and vote and make sure your voices are heard."
Defeated Conservative candidate Sam Bromiley, who won 8,675 votes, left the count as soon as Mr Egan had finished speaking, declining to comment to reporters. The bruising results also mean the Government has now suffered the most by-election defeats of any government since the 1960s, surpassing the eight defeats suffered by John Major in the run-up to Tony Blair's 1997 landslide victory.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer hailed the victories, saying: "These are fantastic results in Kingswood and Wellingborough that show people want change and are ready to put their faith in a changed Labour Party to deliver it. By winning in these Tory strongholds, we can confidently say that Labour is back in the service of working people and we will work tirelessly to deliver for them.
"The Tories have failed. Rishi's recession proves that. That's why we've seen so many former Conservative voters switching directly to this changed Labour Party. Those who gave us their trust in Kingswood and Wellingborough, and those considering doing so, can be safe in the knowledge that we will spend every day working to get Britain's future back."
Labour's new MP for Kingswood Damien Egan at the count on Friday morning (Ian Vogler / Daily Mirror)But senior Conservative MP Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg sought to play down the importance of the results for predicting what will happen at the general election. "By-elections are an opportunity for people not to turn out, to protest and at ensuing general elections they don't give a consistent guide to what happens," he claimed.
Sir Jacob acknowledged the Tories would need to "learn" from the results, saying: "Conservative Party votes are most likely to come from people who stay at home or who voted Reform. How do we win them back to the Tory family? People who share many views and values with us.
"By delivering things they believe in and that means lower taxation, taking more of the advantages of Brexit, with more of the removal of EU retained law, it means doing less on the green issue that is making people cold and poor, and helping revitalise our economy."
Rishi Sunak later said: “Midterm elections are always difficult for incumbent governments and the circumstances of these elections were of course particularly challenging. If you look at the results, very low turnout, and it shows that we've got work to do to show people that we are delivering on their priorities.
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"That's what I'm absolutely determined to do but also it shows that there isn't a huge amount of enthusiasm for the alternative in Keir Starmer and the Labour Party and that's because they don't have a plan and if you don't have a plan, you can't deliver real change, and when the general election comes, that’s the message I’ll be making: Stick with our plan because it is starting to deliver the change the country wants and needs.”
But the PM faced calls to stand down as Tory leader after the humiliating results. Tory MP Dame Andrea Jenkyns said: “However difficult for fellow MPs we have no choice, we have to change leader. We don’t want to be here but sticking heads in the sand will make matters worse. Last chance saloon to change course with a new leader, be tough on immigration & save our great country from the socialists.”
The vote in Wellingborough was triggered after the disgraced ex-Tory MP Peter Bone was ousted by his own constituents at a recall petition. It followed his six week suspension from the Commons after he was found to have subjected a staff member to bullying and sexual misconduct.
Parliament's Independent Expert Panel (IEP) found Mr Bone had exposed his genitals to the aide in a hotel room during a work trip to Madrid. The ex-MP has denied the allegations. But in a move that prompted outrage, the Tories selected Mr Bone's partner and Tory councillor Helen Harrison to defend the seat for the party. It was reported in November that Mr Bone was threatening to run as an independent, unless his girlfriend was added to the shortlist of candidates.
Wellingborough by-election - Labour gain
Gen Kitchen - Labour, 13,844 (45.92%)
Helen Harrison - Conservative, 7,408 (24.57%)
Ben Habib - Reform, 3,919 (13%)
Ana Savage Gunn - Liberal Democrats - 1,422 (4.72%)
Will Morris - Green - 1,020 (3.38%)
Kingswood by-election - Labour gain
Damien Egan - Labour, 11,176 (44.94%)
Sam Bromiley - Conservative, 8,675 (34.88%)
Rupert Lowe - Reform, 2,578 (10.37%)
Lorraine Francis - Green, 1,450 (5.83%)
Andrew Brown - Liberal Democrats, 861 (3.46%)