Tories suffer double defeat in by-election but cling to Boris Johnson's old seat

Steve Tuckwell surrounded by Count Beanface and Howling 'Laud' Hope from monsters, crazy party — gives his victory speech in Uxbridge. Photo: GETTY IMAGES

Rishi Sunak suffered a double by-election defeat to secure Tory seats with Labor and the Liberal Democrats winning a majority of 20,000 votes. in their majority.

The new MPs replace Nigel Adams and David Warburton and will reduce Mr. Sunak's majority in Parliament to 56.

Bullish Conservative MPs compared the result to the 1991 Ribble Valley by-election, when voters ousted a Conservative MP in a similar fashion but re-established the party in the following year's general election.

But Keir Mather, the 25-year-old Labor candidate, said the result was «a strong endorsement of our plan under Keir Starmer.»

It is a great honor for me to be elected Labor MP for Selby and Ainsty.

Together we made history and gave a fresh start to our community.

Now it's time for a fresh start for Britain. pic.twitter.com/WvCzxChT0P

— Keir Mather (@Mather_Keir) July 21, 2023

Mr Mather will become the youngest MP in the House of Commons — a “child of the House of Representatives” — after he overthrows a Conservative majority of 20,137 votes by a margin of 23.7 percent.

Elect in Somerton and Frome Teli moved away from the Conservatives by 29 percent, passing 15th place to the Liberals. Democrats.

BYELECTIONS — Somerton & Frome

Sarah Dyke, the winning candidate, now has a majority of 11,000 votes in Somerset, where the Conservatives won a majority of 19,000 in the 2019 election.

In her speech, she thanked the «Conservatives for Life» who voted for her, as well as the Labor and Greens voters who gave her their votes. 107f174b453.jpg» />Sarah Dyke performing at the Bath & West Showground in Shepton Mallet, Somerset, after winning the Somerton and Frome by-election. Photo: Ben Birchall.

The result is the latest in a string of strong electoral results for Sir Ed Davey's Liberal Democrats in the so-called «Blue Wall» phenomenon.

The loss of two seats in the House of Commons means Mr. Sunak's working majority is down by four votes as opposition parties vote against the government in the parliamentary division.

This means the bill could now be defeated in the House of Commons if 29 Conservative MPs riot.

Elsewhere, Mr. Sunak was spared the prospect of becoming the first prime minister since 1968 to lose three by-elections on the same day that Labor failed to secure Boris Johnson's seat. Uxbridge and South Ruislip.

BY-ELECTION — Uxbridge and South Ruislip

There, Conservative candidate Steve Tuckwell held out with just 495 votes, compared to Johnson's 7,210 in 2019.

His campaign said Ulez's expansion of Sadiq Khan had killed Labor's votes and allowed the Conservatives to oppose the national trend.

Mr Tuckwell campaigned vigorously to extend Ulez's driving tax to all of Greater London, causing enormous voter anger.

Mr. Tuckwell takes a selfie with a supporter. Photo: Getty Images

In his victory speech, he said that the decision of Mr Khan, Mayor of London, is directly related to the fact that he was able to achieve a shocking victory.

“Sadiq Khan lost to Labor in this election. They lost this election because of his destructive and costly policies of Ulez,» he said to the applause of conservative activists.

«Experts expected Labor to win a big victory here, but our community rallied. This was not the campaign that Labor expected and Keir Starmer and its mayor, Sadiq Khan, need to sit down and listen.»

Labor also acknowledged that Ulez played a big role in the outcome, admitting that it was «troubling» for voters facing a cost-of-living crisis.

A party spokesman added: «It will always be a tough battle for a seat that has never had a Labor MP and we haven't even won in 1997.”

Despite their victory, the Tories still lost nearly all of Mr. Johnson's 7,210 votes in 2019 and face a tough battle for a seat in the next general election.

Copy of further trips: several