UK Conservatives lose two seats after big by-election for Labor and Lib Dems

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Rishi Sunak’s Conservative Party suffered two crushing defeats in a UK parliamentary by-election on Friday but avoided a “3-0” defeat by unexpectedly holding onto Boris Johnson’s old Uxbridge seat.

The serious problems facing the British prime minister were highlighted when the opposition Labor Party won its biggest ever by-election victory in the once-safe Tory seat of Selby and Ainstey in Yorkshire.

The centrist Liberal Democrats first demolished the Tories’ vast majority to win the seat of Somerton and Fromme, opening a dangerous new front for Sunak in the Tory stronghold of the South West of England.

But Sunak was defiant, insisting that his party’s slight victory in west London showed that the result of the next general election was not “a done deal”. He added: “The people at Uxbridge told them all it wasn’t.”

Sunak’s party is 20 points behind Labor in opinion polls, and is grappling with high inflation, failing public services and the recent chaos of the Johnson and Liz Truss premierships.

Labor leader Sir Keir Starmer said his party’s victory in Yorkshire showed “how powerful the demand for change is”. The Labor Party has been out of power since Gordon Brown was ousted from Downing Street in 2010.

Sunak’s fears of a wipeout in the by-election were dispelled in the early hours of Friday when the Tories captured Uxbridge with a margin of just 495 votes following a recount.

The Conservative victory in Uxbridge was attributed to concerns over polluting vehicles expanding to outer London boroughs, an ultra-low emissions zone planned by the capital’s Labor mayor Sadiq Khan.

The winning Tory candidate Steve Tuckwell said: “Sadiq Khan has lost Labor this election, and we know it was their damaging and costly ULEZ policy that lost them this election.”

Sunak traveled to the constituency on Friday morning to meet Tuckwell, who received 13,965 votes to Labour’s 13,470.

But the ongoing local issues in Uxbridge did not hide the disastrous consequences for Sunak elsewhere, where the party faced massive backlash with opposition parties.

Labor won Selby and Ainstey from the Tories by a margin of 20,137, a swing of over 21 per cent.

Starmer said: “This is a historic result that shows people are looking to Labor and see a changed party that is fully focused on the priorities of working people with an ambitious, practical plan.”

Labor candidate Keir Mather – who would become the youngest MP in the House of Commons at the age of 25 – defeated Selby by 16,456 votes, and the Tory candidate by 12,295 votes.

Friday morning’s Lib Dem victory in Somerton and Frome with a swing of 28.4 per cent has given leader Sir Ed Davey hope of winning back Tory seats in the south west. Davey said, “This resounding victory shows the Liberal Democrats are firmly back in the West Country.”

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In Somerton and Frome, the Lib Dems’ Sarah Dyke won 21,187 votes, easily defeating the Conservatives’ 10,179. The previous Tory MP David Warburton was forced to step down in a drugs scandal.

A trio of by-election defeats would have been the first such humiliation for a British prime minister since 1968, when the Labor Party’s Harold Wilson lost three contests in a single day.

Despite the tight Uxbridge victory, some Conservative MPs believe that the defeat in Selby and Somerset is a sign of a disastrous general election defeat the following year.

Sunak insisted that he could still turn things around and win his fifth consecutive election. In a message to Tory MPs on Wednesday night, he attempted to boost his party’s morale, and pointed to a drop in inflation this week as a sign that the period of bad economic news may be turning.

Sunak has vowed to make a comeback by presenting a new “long-term vision” for the country. The autumn financial statement and the King’s Speech legislative package will be key moments for the prime minister.

Receive free UK by-election updates

we will send you one myFT Daily Digest Latest Email Rounding UK by-election News every morning.

Rishi Sunak’s Conservative Party suffered two crushing defeats in a UK parliamentary by-election on Friday but avoided a “3-0” defeat by unexpectedly holding onto Boris Johnson’s old Uxbridge seat.

The serious problems facing the British prime minister were highlighted when the opposition Labor Party won its biggest ever by-election victory in the once-safe Tory seat of Selby and Ainstey in Yorkshire.

The centrist Liberal Democrats first demolished the Tories’ vast majority to win the seat of Somerton and Fromme, opening a dangerous new front for Sunak in the Tory stronghold of the South West of England.

But Sunak was defiant, insisting that his party’s slight victory in west London showed that the result of the next general election was not “a done deal”. He added: “The people at Uxbridge told them all it wasn’t.”

Sunak’s party is 20 points behind Labor in opinion polls, and is grappling with high inflation, failing public services and the recent chaos of the Johnson and Liz Truss premierships.

Labor leader Sir Keir Starmer said his party’s victory in Yorkshire showed “how powerful the demand for change is”. The Labor Party has been out of power since Gordon Brown was ousted from Downing Street in 2010.

Sunak’s fears of a wipeout in the by-election were dispelled in the early hours of Friday when the Tories captured Uxbridge with a margin of just 495 votes following a recount.

The Conservative victory in Uxbridge was attributed to concerns over polluting vehicles expanding to outer London boroughs, an ultra-low emissions zone planned by the capital’s Labor mayor Sadiq Khan.

The winning Tory candidate Steve Tuckwell said: “Sadiq Khan has lost Labor this election, and we know it was their damaging and costly ULEZ policy that lost them this election.”

Sunak traveled to the constituency on Friday morning to meet Tuckwell, who received 13,965 votes to Labour’s 13,470.

But the ongoing local issues in Uxbridge did not hide the disastrous consequences for Sunak elsewhere, where the party faced massive backlash with opposition parties.

Labor won Selby and Ainstey from the Tories by a margin of 20,137, a swing of over 21 per cent.

Starmer said: “This is a historic result that shows people are looking to Labor and see a changed party that is fully focused on the priorities of working people with an ambitious, practical plan.”

Labor candidate Keir Mather – who would become the youngest MP in the House of Commons at the age of 25 – defeated Selby by 16,456 votes, and the Tory candidate by 12,295 votes.

Friday morning’s Lib Dem victory in Somerton and Frome with a swing of 28.4 per cent has given leader Sir Ed Davey hope of winning back Tory seats in the south west. Davey said, “This resounding victory shows the Liberal Democrats are firmly back in the West Country.”

You are viewing a snapshot of an interactive graphic. This is probably due to being offline or JavaScript is disabled in your browser.

In Somerton and Frome, the Lib Dems’ Sarah Dyke won 21,187 votes, easily defeating the Conservatives’ 10,179. The previous Tory MP David Warburton was forced to step down in a drugs scandal.

A trio of by-election defeats would have been the first such humiliation for a British prime minister since 1968, when the Labor Party’s Harold Wilson lost three contests in a single day.

Despite the tight Uxbridge victory, some Conservative MPs believe that the defeat in Selby and Somerset is a sign of a disastrous general election defeat the following year.

Sunak insisted that he could still turn things around and win his fifth consecutive election. In a message to Tory MPs on Wednesday night, he attempted to boost his party’s morale, and pointed to a drop in inflation this week as a sign that the period of bad economic news may be turning.

Sunak has vowed to make a comeback by presenting a new “long-term vision” for the country. The autumn financial statement and the King’s Speech legislative package will be key moments for the prime minister.