Rishi Sunak AVOIDS horror triple by-election wipeout as Sadiq Khan blamed for surprise Tory win

But Conservative Steve Tuckwell narrowly retained the seat of Uxbridge and South Ruislip by 495 votes. Boris Johnson had won the seat as the local MP with a majority of 7,210 in 2019.

Labour had gone into the west London by-election expecting victory.

In his acceptance speech Tuckwell pointed the blame for the result squarely at the London Mayor's plans to expand the ultra-low emission zone (Ulez) to cover outer boroughs.

“It was his damaging and costly Ulez policy that lost them this election,” he said.

“This wasn’t the campaign Labour expected and Keir Starmer and his mayor Sadiq Khan need to sit up and listen to the Uxbridge and South Ruislip residents.”

Ulez requires older cars, motorcycles, vans which fail to meet emissions standards to pay a daily £12.50 charge to drive within the zone. Khan wants to expand Ulez to cover all London boroughs.

Polling expert Professor Sir John Curtice warned the Uxbridge result would "raise questions about the potential fragility of support for Labour".

However, he added: "Taken in the round, these by-election results do suggest that the Conservatives remain in deep electoral trouble."

Labour shadow cabinet minister Steve Reed admitted that Ulez had played a factor in his party's failure to win the seat as he suggested Khan was wrong for planning to expand the charge.

He said: "There has certainly been a number of voters who have said to us that they are very concerned about Ulez. Everyone wants to see clean air.

“But for some people, I think, given the chaos that there is in the economy, because the Conservatives have crashed it and the cost-of-living crisis that they fuelled, that this is the wrong time to introduce a charge for Ulez."

The Uxbridge result means Sunak escapes being the first Prime Minister in 55 years to lose three seats at by-elections on the same day.

In Selby and Ainsty 25-year-old Labour candidate Keir Mather was elected to become the youngest MP in the Commons.

The party overturned a 20,137 majority to secure victory by 4,161 votes. The seat was the highest majority the party had ever overcome in a by-election in the post-war era.

Pollsters highlight that a similar swing across the country would result in Labour winning more seats than in Tony Blair’s 1997 landslide.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said: “This is a historic result that shows that people are looking at Labour and seeing a changed party that is focused entirely on the priorities of working people with an ambitious, practical plan to deliver.

"Keir Mather will be a fantastic MP who will deliver the fresh start Selby and Ainsty deserves.

"It is clear just how powerful the demand for change is. Voters put their trust in us — many for the first time. After 13 years of Tory chaos, only Labour can give the country its hope, its optimism and its future back.”

In his speech after being elected, Mather added: “We have rewritten the rules on where Labour can win. People have opened their doors to us and embraced our positive vision for the future.

“The people of Selby & Ainsty have sent a clear message.

"For too long, Conservatives up here and in Westminster have failed us, and today that changes."

Speaking to GB News Conservative Party chairman Greg Hands said he was "disappointed" by the result in North Yorkshire but claimed Labour had failed to win over Tory voters.

He said: "That result was driven largely by Conservative voters, previous Conservative voters, staying home.

“Clearly we’ve got work to do to win back the trust and confidence, we don’t deny that.

“Rishi Sunak has been in office now for nine months working very hard against the five priorities of halving inflation, restoring growth, reducing debt, cutting hospital waiting lists and stopping the boats. That is still work in progress.

“We’ll be fighting hard to regain that constituency next year.”

Meanwhile, the Lib Dems scored a 29.0 percentage point swing in Somerton and Frome to welcome Sarah Dyke as their newest MP in the House of Commons.

It is the fourth time that Sir Ed Davey's party has secured a double-digit swing to win a formerly safe Conservative seat since the 2019 general election.

"The people of Somerton and Frome have spoken for the rest of the country who are fed up with Rishi Sunak's out-of-touch Conservative Government," Davey declared after the result.

"This stunning victory shows the Liberal Democrats are firmly back in the West Country."

Speaking this morning Sunak said that he intended to "double down" on tackling inflation, NHS waiting lists, public debt, illegal immigration and economic growth following the election results.

"Normally when I get woken up at three in the morning it’s only bad news. So, it was a welcome change," he joked about the unexpected Uxbridge win.

Saying the outcome of the next election was not a "done deal" he added: "Steve’s victory demonstrates that when confronted with the actual reality of the Labour Party, when there’s an actual choice on a matter of substance at stake, people vote Conservative."

The by-elections were triggered after Conservative MPs Johnson, Nigel Adams and David Warburton stood down last month.

The former Prime Minister quit after claiming he had been "driven out" of politics by a "witch hunt" of MPs who found him guilty of lying to the House of Commons.

Adams, a close ally of the ex-party leader, announced he was resigning just 24 hours later. Meanwhile Warburton stood aside amid personal scandal.