Rishi Sunak suffered a bruising night last night, losing byelections in both Wellingborough and Kingswood.
The defeats mean the Conservative Party has now lost more by-elections in a single parliament than any administration since the 1960s.
Wellingborough, which was previously held with a Conservative majority of 18,540, was won by Labour with a majority of 6,436. This represents a swing of 28.5 percentage points – the second largest swing from Tory to Labour at any by-election since World War 2.
Kingswood was previously held with a Conservative majority of 11,220, but was last night won by Labour with a majority of 2,501 – a swing to Labour of 16.4 per cent.
Rishi Sunak suffered a bruising night last night, losing byelections in both Wellingborough and Kingswood
PA
Sir Keir Starmer said the results of the by-elections show the public “want change”.
“These are fantastic results in Kingswood and Wellingborough that show people want change and are ready to put their faith in a changed Labour Party to deliver it,” he said.
“By winning in these Tory strongholds, we can confidently say that Labour is back in the service of working people and we will work tirelessly to deliver for them.”