UK Conservatives lose 2 seats in by-elections

The ruling Conservatives of the United Kingdom (UK) lost two stronghold seats to the main opposition Labour Party on Friday during the first parliamentary by-elections in what will be a general election year, reported Xinhua.

In the Kingswood constituency near Bristol in South West England, Labour candidate Damien Egan overturned an 11,220 Conservative majority. His 11,176 votes gave him a majority of 2,501 over his main Conservative opponent.

Hours later at Wellingborough in Central England, Labour's Gen Kitchen, a charity sector worker, was the winner, demolishing the 18,540 majority the Conservatives won in 2019. The swing of 28.5 percent was one of the biggest in decades from the Conservatives to Labour.

Kitchen's 13,844 votes were enough to win the seat for Labour with a comfortable majority of 6,436 over the second-placed Conservative candidate.

The double blow for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak came just hours after it was announced that the UK economy was in a technical recession.

While it was bad news for Sunak and his party, Labour leader Keir Starmer was delighted to gain two scalps just months away from a general election.

In a statement after the results were declared, Starmer said, "These are fantastic results that show people want change and are ready to put their faith in a changed Labour Party to deliver it."

"By winning in these Conservative strongholds we can confidently say that Labour is back in the service of working people and we will work tirelessly to deliver for them," he added.

If opinion polls prove accurate, Starmer is on course to become the Labour Prime Minister before the end of this year.

Professor Iain Begg from the London School of Economics told Xinhua: "It looks increasingly likely that by the end of this year, we'll see a Labour government. You really cannot see a credible pathway (in) which the Conservatives can improve their fortunes."

Turnout in both by-elections was less than 40 percent, much lower than the average 70 percent of people who traditionally vote in general elections.

To add to Sunak's woes, the newly formed Reform UK, seen by political commentators as an alternative home for disaffected Conservatives, came third in both by-elections, scoring its best-ever performance.

"It is very hard to see a scenario under which these results do not point to the end of this Conservative government," Begg added. "The Labour Party is not exactly rising enormously, but they're showing steadiness which they didn't have in the past."