Tamworth and Mid Beds by-elections: Keir Starmer hails results as game-changeron October 20, 2023 at 5:47 pm

Record-breaking wins in two by-elections are a “game changer” which shows Labour can now win anywhere, Sir Keir Starmer has said.

Labour secured two new MPs on Friday, by overturning huge Tory majorities in Mid Bedfordshire and Tamworth.

The Labour leader said his party was “redrawing the political map” ahead of a general election, expected next year.

Rishi Sunak said the results were “obviously disappointing” but it was “important to remember the context”.

Speaking to reporters from Cairo, where he was holding meetings on the crisis in Gaza, the PM said mid-term by-elections were “always difficult for incumbent governments” and that there had been “local factors at play”.

He added that he was “committed to delivering on the priorities of the British people”.

As is often the case turnout was down at the by-elections, but the results were no less historic.

Labour overcame a 24,664 Tory majority in Mid Bedfordshire to win the seat for the first time – the largest numerical majority ever overturned in a by-election in history.

In Tamworth, there was a 23.9% swing to Labour from the Tories – the second-biggest swing from the Conservatives to Labour at a by-election since 1945.

Speaking in Mid-Bedfordshire, Sir Keir said the result was “a game changer” and showed Labour could “win seats we’ve never won before”.

“I know there are people who probably voted Tory in the past who vote for a changed Labour Party this time because they despair at the state of their own party,” he told party activists.

The Labour party is now “the party of the future, the party of national renewal,” he added.

The largely rural constituency of Mid Bedfordshire has had a Tory MP since 1931 and has never been held by Labour in its century-long history.

In a three-way fight for the seat, Labour’s Alistair Strathern secured a swing of 20.5% to win by 1,192 votes.

The Conservative candidate Festus Akinbusoye, Bedfordshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner came second with 12,680 votes and Lib Dem Emma Holland-Lindsay came third with 9,420 votes.

Lib Dem deputy leader Daisy Cooper said her party “played a crucial role in defeating the Conservatives” in the constituency.

“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,” she said.

“We can play a crucial role in getting rid of this Conservative government at the next election.”

Both by-elections were triggered by resignations from the previous MP, with some anger locally at the circumstances of their departure.

In Mid Bedfordshire, former Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries stood down after her name was not included on Boris Johnson’s resignation honours list.

The Tamworth by-election followed the resignation of former Tory MP Chris Pincher, after he lost his appeal against a proposed suspension from the House of Commons for drunkenly groping two men.

Tamworth voted strongly for Brexit in 2016 and Labour will be hoping this means it can win in other leave-supporting areas in a general election.

The Conservative candidate Andrew Cooper, who was ushered out of a side door seconds after his defeat was confirmed, was 1,316 votes behind his Labour opponent.

Reform UK, previously known as the Brexit Party, came third in Tamworth, with their candidate securing 1,373 votes.

The Tories stressed the result was based on reduced turnout, as only 35.9% of the electorate voted in Tamworth and 44% in Mid Bedfordshire.

Conservative Chair Greg Hands told the BBC “the biggest problem was previous Conservative voters staying at home”.

“It was principally a problem we need to find better ways to energise our Conservative voters to come out and support the government.”

He also sought to blame the “legacy issues” from the chaotic end of Liz Truss and Boris Johnson’s time in office, which he said predates Rishi Sunak’s premiership.

Speaking on her TalkTV show, Nadine Dorries said Mr Sunak was “absolutely to blame” for the losses adding: “It’s desperately sad that the party has got itself into this potentially catastrophic mess.”

Campaigners on the right-wing of the Tory party have been quick to seize on the results, which they say should act as a wake-up call for the party to return to traditional conservative policies – such as tax cuts and reducing immigration.

The party’s core voters have “gone on strike” according to the Conservative Democratic Organisation (CDO) to a grassroots right-wing campaign group.

John Hayes, Chair of Common Sense Group of Tory MPs and a close ally of Suella Braverman, said the party needs to “lean into the priorities of people who vote Tory.”