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UK’s Labour has dealt a double byelection blow to Rishi Sunak by overturning huge Tory majorities in Tamworth and Mid Bedfordshire.
Party leader Keir Starmer said Labour was “redrawing the political map” by taking seats which had been comfortably Conservative ahead of the general election expected next year.
In Tamworth, Labour’s Sarah Edwards defeated Tory Andrew Cooper by a majority of 1,316.
The Conservatives were defending a 19,634 majority, but a 23.9 percentage point swing to Labour saw that eradicated.
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The result, announced shortly at 2.45am, was the second-highest byelection swing to Labour.
Just 30 minutes later, Mid Bedfordshire saw the largest majority overturned by Labour at a byelection since 1945.
The Tories had held Mid Bedfordshire since 1931, with a 24,664 Conservative majority in 2019.
But Alistair Strathern took the seat with a majority of 1,192 over his Tory rival Festus Akinbusoye, with a swing of 20.5 percentage points to Labour.
Mr Starmer said: “These are phenomenal results that show Labour is back in the service of working people and redrawing the political map.
“Winning in these Tory strongholds shows that people overwhelmingly want change and they’re ready to put their faith in our changed Labour Party to deliver it.
“Voters across Mid Bedfordshire, Tamworth and Britain want a Labour government determined to deliver for working people, with a proper plan to rebuild our country.
“To those who have given us their trust, and those considering doing so, Labour will spend every day acting in your interests and focused on your priorities. Labour will give Britain its future back.”
Mr Strathern said his victory showed “nowhere is off limits for this Labour Party” while Ms Edwards challenged the prime minister to call a general election.
“My message to the prime minister is get in your government car, drive to Buckingham Palace, do the decent thing and call a general election,” she said.
Both contests were triggered by the high-profile departures of their previous MPs.
Former cabinet minister Nadine Dorries quit as Mid Bedfordshire’s MP in anger at being denied a peerage in Boris Johnson’s resignation honours list.
In Tamworth, Chris Pincher resigned after being found to have drunkenly groped two men in an “egregious case of sexual misconduct” at London’s exclusive Carlton Club last year – an incident which helped trigger Mr Johnson’s exit from No 10 because of his handling of the situation.
The Conservatives sought to portray the byelections as mid-term blips, exacerbated by the difficulties surrounding the previous MPs.
Mr Sunak was out of the country as the byelection results came in, spending the night in Saudi Arabia on a tour of the Middle East in the aftermath of the Hamas attacks on Israel.
The results were announced a year to the day after Mr Sunak’s predecessor Liz Truss resigned as prime minister.
In Mid Bedfordshire the Liberal Democrats came third, and claimed their ability to switch Tory voters cleared the way for Labour’s victory.
Lib Dem deputy leader Daisy Cooper said: “We nearly doubled our share of the vote which would see the Lib Dems win dozens of seats off the Conservatives in a general election.
“The Liberal Democrats played a crucial role in defeating the Conservatives in Mid Bedfordshire, and we can play a crucial role in getting rid of this Conservative Government at the next election.” – PA