The Labour Party and Liberal Democrats won two seats in Northern and Southwest England from the UK‘s ruling Conservative Party and the Conservatives managed to keep Boris Johnson’s seat in suburban London. However, the Conservatives suffered two significant losses in the three special elections.
In spite of the Tories’ current economic woes, scandals, and skyrocketing inflation, Rishi Sunak narrowly won the west London seat of Uxbridge and South Ruislip. He was predicted to become the first British prime minister to lose three parliamentary seats in a single day.
The Labour Party overcame its largest deficit at a by-election since World War II to win the northern English seat of Selby and Ainsty by 16,456 votes to 12,295 in the elections held on Thursday, dealing a crushing blow to conservatives ahead of the anticipated general election next year.
The winning candidate Keir Mather reiterated the “negligence and complacency” of the Conservatives in his victory speech, saying, “Conservatives here and in Westminster have failed us for too long.”
The Liberal Democrats defeated the Conservatives by a margin of 21,187 votes to 10,179 in the seat of Somerton and Frome in southwest England. The victorious candidate, Sarah Dyke, praised the “stunning and historic victory” while denouncing the “woeful government.”
“We have been disappointed and taken for granted. Enough is enough,” she emphasized. “This government is too busy running a circus of chaos.
Although it was predicted that the Tories would lose Johnson’s former seat, they did so by a narrow margin of 13,965 to 13,470, which revealed a lack of public support for the party.
The “number one” issue, according to winning candidate Steve Tuckwell, was Sadiq Khan, the Labour mayor of London, expanding a tax on polluting vehicles to outer London boroughs.
A six-week parliamentary break will help, but Sunak is becoming more vulnerable in light of the lopsided losses he suffered in the other two races, which could lead to a general election next year.
Currently leading by double digits in the polls, the main opposition Labor Party is poised to take back control for the first time in more than ten years. Since March of last year, it has triumphed in six by-elections, winning two of them from the conservatives.
Following Johnson’s scandal-plagued resignation as an MP last month, the Uxbridge and South Ruislip race got underway.
He resigned after learning that a parliamentary committee made up of members from all parties had found that he had purposefully misled lawmakers about quarantine parties during the Covid pandemic lockdowns.
Shortly after running for the position, Johnson’s ally Nigel Adams resigned, forcing Selby and Ainsty to compete in a by-election.
Following David Warburton’s resignation as a result of his admission of using cocaine, a third vote was held in Somerton and Frome.
Sunak, who was not visible on the campaign trail, tried to project an image of things continuing as usual but privately warned MPs to prepare for the worst.
