Britain’s governing Conservative Party has suffered two thumping defeats in a trio of special elections but avoided a drubbing after holding onto former premier Boris Johnson’s seat in suburban London
Britain’s governing Conservative Party suffered two thumping defeats Friday in a trio of special elections but avoided a drubbing after holding onto former premier Boris Johnson’s seat in suburban London.
Though the main opposition Labour Party and the smaller centrist Liberal Democrats overturned massive Conservative majorities to win a seat apiece, the Conservatives found some crumbs of comfort in their narrow success in Uxbridge and South Ruislip in west London.
Still, the results of Thursday’s elections, if replicated at a likely general election next year, would certainly see Labour emerge as the biggest single party, possibly with a sizeable overall majority.
Labour won the seat of Selby and Ainsty in northern England, with the 25-year-old candidate Keir Mather managing to secure the party’s second largest swing at a special election since 1945.
“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,“ Labour Party leader Keir Starmer said.
