The ruling Conservative Party managed to retain the old seat of former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, but lost the other two seats up for grabs in the exceptional election. This is a hard blow for the ruling party, as scandals and high inflation take their toll.
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Rishi Sunak was expected to become the only prime minister to lose three parliamentary seats in one day, but he was saved from that humiliation by a narrow victory at Uxbridge and South Ruislip in west London.
While that result may have offered some relief to embattled Sunak, the removal of his party’s majority of 19,000 votes in the Somerton and Frome seat and 20,000 in the Selby and Ainsty constituency deals a heavy blow ahead of next year’s general election.
Labor took the Selby and Ainsty bench in northern England by 16,456 to 12,295, reversing its biggest by-election deficit since World War II.
Winning candidate Keir Mather, 25, said in his victory speech that “for too long the Tories here and in Westminster have failed us,” accusing the government of “negligence and complacency.”
Meanwhile, in Somerton and Frome, south-west England, the Liberal Democrats won by 21,187 to 10,179. Winner Sarah Dyke hailed an “impressive and historic victory” and took aim at a “pitiful government”. “We have been let down and taken for granted. This government is too busy being a circus of chaos, enough is enough,” she questioned.
The Conservatives were also expected to lose Boris Johnson’s old Uxbridge and South Ruislip seat, but they managed a tight 13,965 to 13,470 vote, dealing a blow to Labor leader Keir Starmer and London Labor Mayor Sadiq Khan.
The winning candidate, Steve Tuckwell, claimed the “number one” problem had been Khan’s expansion of a tax on polluting vehicles to London’s outer boroughs. He noted that Labor MPs in similar seats “will now panic” and the result is likely to spark talks between Starmer and Khan.
The Labor Party is emerging as a favorite for the generals
However, heavy defeats in the other two contests leave Sunak increasingly vulnerable ahead of a likely general election next year, and Parliament’s six-week recess provides welcome relief.
The main opposition party, Labor, currently enjoys a double-digit lead in the polls and is poised to retake power for the first time in more than a decade. Since March last year he has won six by-elections, capturing two of those seats from the Tories.
The Uxbridge and South Ruislip contest sparked after scandal-plagued Johnson resigned as MP last month. His resignation came after learning that a multi-party parliamentary committee had concluded that he deliberately lied to lawmakers about his lockdown-breaking parties during the Covid-19 pandemic, and recommended a 90-day suspension.
While much attention has been paid to Johnson, voter Deborah Willott, 65, told AFP that “it’s a by-election, so it really focuses on local issues much more than if it were a general election.”
Johnson’s ally Nigel Adams resigned shortly afterward after failing to be nominated for a peerage, leading to the by-election of Selby and Ainsty.
The third ballot in Somerton and Frome was called after their Conservative MP David Warburton withdrew after admitting to using cocaine.
Sunak, who has not been visible on the campaign trail, tried to project a calm image on Thursday but privately told second-tier lawmakers to expect the worst.
Sunak’s struggles
Sunak became prime minister after the disastrous 44-day term of his predecessor Liz Truss and initially succeeded in stabilizing financial markets, which had been panicked by Truss’s radical tax-cutting agenda.
But the 43-year-old former finance minister has struggled to reverse the slide in his party’s fortunes, which began during the so-called ‘Partygate’ scandal under Johnson.
Sunak’s recovery efforts have been hampered in part by persistently high inflation, which has spooked markets again in recent months.
With interest rates at their highest in 15 years, driving up the cost of mortgages and other loans, the worst cost-of-living crisis in a generation shows little sign of abating.
Sunak kicked off the year by making five key promises to voters, including halving inflation, growing the economy and cutting wait times on the overstretched NHS.
Little progress has been made on most pledges, and fears persist that the UK will slide into recession this year as high interest rates constrain spending.
Sunak’s positive image has fallen to its lowest level (-40) since he joined Downing Street, with two-thirds of Britons saying they have an unfavorable opinion of him, according to YouGov.
with AFP
