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Rishi Sunak has suffered a double blow after losing both the Kingswood and Wellingborough by-elections.
Labour overturned majorities of 11,220 and 18,540, delivering the Government's ninth and tenth by-election defeats of the current Parliament and securing its second largest swing from the Conservatives ever.
Gen Kitchen secured Wellingborough with 45.8 per cent of the vote, while Damien Egan won Kingswood with 44.9 per cent of the vote.
The results provided Labour with a boost after a U-turn on the party's pledge to spend £28 billion on green projects and an antisemitism row that forced it to drop its candidate for another by-election in Rochdale in two weeks' time.
The twin defeat piles more pressure on the prime minister following the news that the UK entered a recession at the end of 2023.
The 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.”
Reform UK want Labour in Downing Street, Tory party chairman says
Reform UK want to see Sir Keir Starmer in Downing Street, the Conservative Party chairman said.
Speaking to BBC Breakfast, Richard Holden said: “Their ambition is to block Conservatives winning seats and therefore put Keir Starmer into Downing Street.
“They’ve made it very clear, you’ve read out that statement from them, that’s what Reform UK want to do, they want to see Keir Starmer in Downing Street and not have a Conservative government.”
He added: “Reform aren’t challenging realistically for seats. This general elections is going to be a battle between the Conservatives and the Labour Party.
“All Reform are going to do, as they’ve said themselves, is help put Keir Starmer and Labour into Downing Street.”
Asked if Prime Minister Rishi Sunak needs to appease the right of the Conservative Party, Mr Holden said: “If the right of the British politics and the centre and centre-right – that broad church which is the Conservative Party – doesn’t unite, then we will see a Labour victory.”
He added: “I believe we have every opportunity to win the next general election, I think we definitely can do it, but that means we have got to come together as a party, unite in the best interests of the country, deliver those things that we’ve promised, work together as a party to do that.”
Conservative Party chairman Richard Holden said both by-election results were “very disappointing”.
Mr Holden told Sky News: “Very disappointing results – no need to shy away from that – in both Kingswood and Wellingborough.
“I think one of the most disappointing things for me though is the turnout in the by-elections was so significantly down compared to the previous general elections in both seats. I want to see people actively participating in democracy.
“I think that shows we’ve got a lot to do to get people out there and enthused to vote again, and probably the Opposition have a similar challenge.”
He added: “I think we’ve got to look at both these by-elections in the context in which they happened as well.
“We had an MP in Kingswood who stood down and also obviously in Wellingborough we had a parliamentary investigation, which led to a recall petition which led to an MP being forced to stand down.
“Not ideal circumstances for any form of by-election for any party.”
He also told BBC Breakfast that people were “keeping their vote at home” and insisted voters stayed at home rather than switching their votes.
Watch: moment Labour’s Damien Egan is announced the winner of the Kingswood by-election
This is the moment Labour’s Damien Egan is announced as the winner of the Kingswood by-election.
As the party overturned a Conservative majority of more than 11,000, Mr Egan claimed “The Tories have sucked the hope out of our country”.
In his victory speech in the early hours of Friday morning, Mr Egan thanked the activists who helped him win and the people of Kingswood for putting their trust in him.
He said: “It’s a trust that I promise to repay, to show you that politics can be different and it can make a difference.”
Watch Labour’s Damien Egan win Kingswood by-election: ‘Tories sucked hope out of UK’
This is the moment Labour’s Damien Egan is pronounced the winner of the Kingswood by-election. As the party overturned a Conservative majority of more than 11,000, Mr Egan claimed “The Tories have sucked the hope out of our country”. In his victory speech in the early hours of Friday morning (16 February), Mr Egan thanked the activists who helped him win and the people of Kingswood for putting their trust in him. He said: “It’s a trust that I promise to repay, to show you that politics can be different and it can make a difference.”
‘People going directly from Conservative to Labour'
Veteran Labour MP Sir Chris Bryant said that he had spoken to people in Kingswood who had voted Labour for the first time in their lives, as Labour took the win in the by-election.
Speaking from the Kingswood count, Mr Bryant said: “I am delighted. I had a moment this afternoon when I all thought it was going wrong because of the rain and it was pouring down and I was sopping wet and I wasn’t sure how I was going to get into a suit.
“But people came out and they voted. A lot of switchers – people going directly from Conservative to Labour. One man said to me today he was 65 and had voted Conservative all his life, including during the Tony Blair years, and today was the first time he voted Labour.”
Who is Gen Kitchen? Labour’s new MP for Wellingborough
And Labour figures are confident that Ms Kitchen’s win, beating Tory candidate Helen Harrison by more than 6,000 votes, puts the party on course for a landslide under Sir Keir Starmer later this year.
Who is Damien Egan? Labour’s new MP for Kingswood
Damien Egan has won the Kingswood by-election, overturning a 11,200 majority held by the Conservatives to give Labour a further boost ahead of the general election.
Mr Egan’s win, beating Tory candidate Sam Bromiley by 2,501 votes, was not a great surprise locally for a seat last held by Labour in 2005.
The Cork-born MP has been supported by notable visits from the likes of Sir Keir Starmer, Rachel Reeves and Dawn Butler.
But it is his local roots which have been a key part of his campaign. So here The Independent looks at who is Mr Egan?
Key numbers and statistics in full
As the Conservatives face a double blow in the Kingswood and Wellingborough by-elections, they become the party to have lost more by-elections in a single parliament than any government since the 1960s.
Here are the key statistics and historical benchmarks from the results of Thursday’s by-elections:
What do the losses mean for the Conservatives?
Defeats in Thursday’s by-elections in Kingswood and Wellingborough mean the Conservatives have lost more by-elections in a single parliament than any government since the 1960s.
The Tories have clocked up 10 such defeats since the 2019 general election – two more than the eight suffered by the 1992-97 Conservative government led by John Major.
It is more than any previous government since the 1966-70 Labour administration of Harold Wilson, which endured 15 losses.
Even accounting for the Conservatives’ one by-election gain this parliament – winning Hartlepool from Labour in 2021 – the double defeat on Thursday brings the party’s overall by-election scorecard to nine net losses, which is still worse than any government since 1966-70.
Good morning, here’s the latest
The Tories suffered a devastating double by-election defeat overnight with Labour taking huge majorities in both the Gloucestershire seat of Kingswood and the Northamptonshire seat of Wellingborough.
In Wellingborough, Labour’s Gen Kitchen won 45.92 per cent of the vote while her Conservative opponent Helen Harrison won just 24.57 per cent.
It marks the second-largest swing to Labour since the Second World War.
Similar results were seen in Kingswood were the Labour candidate Damien Egan won 44.94 per cent of the vote compared to the 34.88 per cent the Conservative’s Sam Bromiley received.
Upon his election, Mr Egan said: “Our country is at a crossroads. Under the Conservatives we can choose more managed decline, more chaos, more division or we can choose a changed Labour Party.”
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer also weighed in on the results and said: “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.”
Gen Kitchen won the Wellingborough by-election with the second-largest swing from the Conservatives to Labour since the Second World War (Joe Giddens/PA)
Sir Keir Starmer: ‘These are fantastic results'
Sir Keir will not be doing a media round on Friday morning as he attends the funeral of the late Rochdale MP Sir Tony Lloyd.
But speaking about tonight’s results, he said: “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.”
Sir Keir is joined by musician Feargal Sharkey as he canvasses voters by phone for the Wellingborough and Kingswood by-elections
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2024-02-16 07:20:52Z
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