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The results amount to a comprehensive rejection of Rishi Sunak’s Conservative Party, which has seen its poll ratings nosedive in the months since Boris Johnson left.
London
CNN
—
Embattled British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak suffered a devastating political blow on Friday as voters rejected his party in two parliamentary elections it was widely expected to win.
The Conservatives lost to the resurgent Labor Party in Selby and Ainsty, a region in the north of England where the Sunak party enjoyed a commanding majority.
The second seat, Somerton and Frome, was won by the Liberal Democrats, a centrist party.
The Conservatives only managed to hold on to a third seat in Uxbridge and South Ruislip, the constituency held by former Prime Minister Boris Johnson until he resigned from parliament last month, although Labor significantly increased its share of the vote.
But that is little comfort for Sunak – the overall results suggest that Sunak’s government is on course for an electoral defeat in the next general election, expected next year.
Thursday’s three by-elections are a tough mid-term test for Sunak, who took power after Liz Truss’ six-week premiership last fall.
Sunak struggled to reverse the Conservatives’ declining fortunes during his nine months in office; a series of scandals, a slowing economy and a decline in British public services made his party less popular.
In Uxbridge and South Ruislip, Labor hopes to win the seat Boris Johnson has held for eight years. Conservative Party candidate Steve Tuckwell won 45.16% of the vote there.
Johnson quit in anger after a committee of fellow lawmakers found he had lied to Parliament about “Partygate,” the party scandal during his government’s lockdown that damaged his popularity and contributed to his political downfall.
But in Selby, in the north of England, Labor overturned a huge deficit to win the seat with 46% of the vote.
The two seats are seen as the kind of regions Labor should target if it has any hope of gaining a parliamentary majority at the next election.
Both votes were triggered after a committee of lawmakers found Johnson had lied to Parliament, in a damning and unprecedented ruling against a former Prime Minister. Johnson was set to be suspended from Parliament for 90 days, but avoided that punishment by resigning.
Nigel Adams, the former Conservative MP for Selby and a close ally of Johnson, quit a few hours later in an apparent move of solidarity.
Adding to the Conservatives’ woes was the heavy loss of Somerton and Frome, an affluent area in southwest England, to the Liberal Democrats who won nearly 55% of the vote. The centrist party is drawing on the former conservative support of the so-called “Blue Wall,” a large swath of southern England that generally opposes Brexit.
While the Conservatives took comfort from the Uxbridge result, the swing against Sunak’s party in all three seats showed that a resurgent Labor party would take power in a national vote.
According to the law, a general election must take place in January 2025. Most observers think that Sunak will call it in the fall of 2024, if not before, to avoid trying to persuade voters to vote in the middle of winter.
Time is running out for him to reverse Sunak’s fortunes. A cost of living crisis, deteriorating public services, stubbornly high inflation and an endless list of Tory scandals have strongly turned opinion against his party – which has been in power for 13 years – and intensified calls by opposition parties for an early general election.
