Dealing a crushing blow to Rishi Sunak’s Conservatives, Britain’s Labour on Friday won contests for two new lawmakers in votes that suggested the opposition party was on track to win the upcoming election.
“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,” Labour leader Keir Starmer said in a statement. “The Tories (Conservatives) 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.”
The Kingswood and Wellingborough results show that people want change and are ready to put their faith in a changed Labour Party to deliver it.The Tories have failed, Rishi’s recession proves that.
Labour is back in the service of working people.
— Keir Starmer (@Keir_Starmer) February 16, 2024
Labour overturned a hefty Conservative majority in the central English town of Wellingborough to win the parliamentary seat with 13,844 votes against 7,408, news agency Reuters reported. In Kingswood, southwestern England, Labour won with 11,176 votes against 8,675 for the Conservative candidate. The Conservatives have only won four out of 21 by-elections since the last national election in 2019.
UK media said that the twin defeat underlined the flagging fortunes of the governing party and will do little to silence British-Indian PM’s critics, who fear the Conservatives could face an all-but wipe-out at the national election. The 43-year-old former investment banker has struggled to restore his party’s fortunes despite recasting himself over the past year as a bold reformer.
With the Labour Party ahead in the polls, reports said Sunak might well need to bend to the demands of some in his party to offer an increasingly disaffected electorate a more right-wing conservative agenda before the election. Although it’s common for the ruling party to lose by-elections, the significant loss in two parliamentary seats long held by the Conservatives adds pressure on Sunak.
The challenge from the Reform Party could also worry some in the governing party. Senior Conservative lawmaker Jacob Rees-Mogg said at least in Kingswood, if Reform supporters had voted for the governing party as part of the “Conservative family”, the Conservatives would have held the parliamentary seat.
(With agency inputs)
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