Rishi Sunak plunged into chaos as double by-election defeat exposes risk of Tory wipeout

Wellingborough, which was previously held with a Conservative majority of 18,540, was won by Labour with a majority of 6,436. This represents a swing of 28.5 percentage points - the second largest swing from Tory to Labour at any by-election since World War 2.

Kingswood was previously held with a Conservative majority of 11,220, but was last night won by Labour with a majority of 2,501 - a swing to Labour of 16.4 per cent.

Speaking this morning, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the circumstances surrounding the by-elections were “particularly challenging”.

But Sir Keir Starmer said the results of the by-elections show the public “want change”.

“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,” he said.

The Labour leader continued: “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.

"Those who gave us their trust in Kingswood and Wellingborough, and those considering doing so, can be safe in the knowledge that we will spend every day working to get Britain’s future back.”

The double loss piles more pressure on the Prime Minister, who has been battling devastating approval ratings for months.

Sunak insisted the Government is making progress on inflation and the economy, but admitted: “we’re not out of the woods yet”.

Speaking to reporters, Sunak said: “We’ve clearly been through a lot over the past couple of years as a country, but I genuinely believe at the start of this year we’re pointing in the right direction.

“Now we’re not out of the woods yet, but across all the priorities that I set out we’re making progress.

“Inflation has been more than halved, the economy out-performed expectations last year, debt is on track to fall, we’ve cut the number of illegal migrants coming by a third and we’re making progress on the longest waits in the NHS.”

He added that a vote for anyone except the Conservatives is a vote for Starmer, saying the actual choice at the general election is “between me and him”, referring to the Labour leader.

The PM said: “A vote for anyone who isn’t the Conservative candidate, whether that’s Reform or anyone else, is just a vote to put Keir Starmer in power.

“That’s the actual choice at the general election, between me and him, between the Conservatives and Labour.

“Now I believe our plan is working. At the start of this year we’re heading in the right direction, taxes are coming down, inflation is falling, and if we stick with that plan we can deliver everyone a brighter future.”

Reform UK saw its best by-election results after targeting disgruntled voters on the right, securing more than 10 per cent of the vote in both seats, for the first time in any by-election.

Reform deputy leader Ben Habib won 13 per cent of the vote in Wellingborough, while Rupert Lowe won 10 per cent in Kingswood.

The party's leader, Richard Tice, said the result in Kingswood shows it is now a “significant force in British politics”.

He told GB News the Tories should step aside and let him take on “and beat” Keir Starmer.

Speaking in the wake of last night’s by-elections, the leader of Reform UK told GBNews: “I think people are realising the Tories are tired, that they are old and they are toxic. They've had the chance - they've blown it, frankly, they should stand aside now having messed up. My message to them is let me take on Keir Starmer and beat him. You've got to be optimistic. I've got loads of it.”

Asked if he was prepared to step aside himself should the Tories approach him and agree to adopt some of Reform UK’s policies, Mr Tice said: “No way. It had a chance before. No one believes a word they say anymore. They said that last time and we fell for it. We're not falling for that nonsense again. No one trusts them. I’ve still got the scars on my back from last time. A week tomorrow we will be releasing the draft of our election contract with the people which will cover all of these areas in great detail, including costings.

“We're not calling it a manifesto - we're calling it an election contract with the people as it is a draft election contract between us and the voters. We're looking at a range of stuff and people will agree with some of the numbers and they'll disagree with others. But in a sense, by doing it as a working draft, that's actually a good thing. You're saying, ‘look, we're not perfect, but at least we're putting it out there'. And then people can comment and decide.”

Habib described his party's results as "remarkable" but denied that Labour's victory came as a result of Tory voters switching to Reform, saying: "The only reason Labour win if Labour win is because the Tory party are utterly useless."

He said the running of the country needs a "complete 180-degree handbrake turn".

As voting closed last night, the Conservative Party was already downbeat on its chances of victory with a party source telling GB News: “We have fought robust campaigns on the ground in both of these seats with local candidates. But these bylections were always going to be hard.

"The Government of the day rarely win by-elections. Both of these seats have been Labour recently and they require smaller swings than were seen in recent by-elections."

The by-election in Wellingborough was called after former MP Peter Bone was forced to resign after he was found to have committed acts of bullying and sexual misconduct.

His partner, Helen Harrison, was selected as the Tory candidate, making it difficult for the Tory party to draw a line under the scandal.

Gen Kitchen, the new MP for Wellingborough, said she is “ecstatic” at the result, saying that the two by-election victories for Labour show people are "fed up" with the Conservatives.

She said: “I hope Damien [Egan] is as ecstatic as I am, and I’m sure the Labour leadership will be as well.

“This shows that people are fed up, they want change, they want competency, they want pragmatism and they want politicians to under-promise and over-deliver, which is what I am hoping to do.

“It shows how much hard work we put in and the real positive message we were putting out. There is a real appetite for a fresh start and change.”

Pollster Matt Goodwin last night told GB News the Conservatives are as unpopular as Prince Andrew.

Speaking ahead of the results last night, he said: "We know from focus groups that weak is a word that people associate with Rishi Sunak.
"Compared to Keir Starmer, Sunak’s ratings are weaker and they have reached a new low.

“Sunak has a leadership problem and the party itself has an image problem.

“The net satisfaction score for the party is minus 65, which is where Prince Andrew is within the Royal Family if you want a reference point.”