Byelection results - live: Boost for Starmer after Rochdale ‘shambles’ as Labour clinches two major victories
Labour overturns two large majorities to take seats in Northamptonshire and Gloucestershire on a bad night for the Conservative party
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Your support makes all the difference.Two byelection victories have boosted Keir Starmer after a difficult week for Labour in which the party was accused of a “shambolic” handling of an antisemitism row.
Labour overturned huge Tory majorities to win in Kingswood and Wellingborough, meaning the Conservatives have now suffered the most byelection defeats of any government since the 1960s.
Speaking to broadcasters on Friday morning, Mr Starmer acknowledged it had been a “bumpy” week, but insisted the victories suggest the public can see that his party has changed since Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership, which was often overshadowed by controversies surrounding its handling of antisemitism allegations.
“I think there is a message now from these by-elections… I think the country is crying out for change. Everybody knows that,” he added.
Earlier, Rishi Sunak insisted that his government’s “plan is working” as he urged voters to stick with the Conservatives in the wake of thedouble defeat.
The prime minister said the circumstances surrounding the by-elections in Kingswood and Wellingborough were “particularly challenging” and suggested that the low turnout meant that there “isn’t a huge amount of enthusiasm for the alternative in Keir Starmer,” who he claimed had “no plan” for government.
Who is Gen Kitchen? Labour’s new MP for Wellingborough
Who is Damien Egan? Labour’s new MP for Kingswood
Disaster for Rishi Sunak as Labour overturns big Tory majorities in double by-election defeat
Stephen Kinnock: ‘We’re learning the lessons of Dad’s election defeat in 1992 – we’re up for the fight’
Is the West in denial about its antisemitism?
Background on Wellinborough constituency
The Northamptonshire constituency was won by Peter Bone for the Conservatives at every general election from 2005 to 2019.
He increased the Tories’ share of the vote at each poll, pushing it up from 43% in 2005 to 48% in 2010, 52% in 2015, 57% in 2017 and 62% in 2019.
Labour came second in four of the five contests, the exception being 2015 when Ukip was runner-up.
Further back, Labour won Wellingborough at the 1997 and 2001 general elections.
The chain of events that led to the by-election began when Mr Bone received a six-week suspension from the House of Commons after an inquiry found he had subjected a staff member to bullying and sexual misconduct.
The suspension triggered a recall petition in his constituency which was signed by more than 10% of voters – the threshold for an MP to be removed from their seat.
The by-election is similar to Kingswood in that is it a two-horse race between the Conservatives and Labour.
However, the swing needed by Labour to win the seat is larger, at 17.9 percentage points – in other words, the equivalent of a net change of 18 in every 100 people who voted Tory in 2019 switching sides.
This is still a smaller swing than the ones managed by Labour in 2023 at the by-elections in Tamworth, Selby & Ainsty and Mid Bedfordshire.
There are 11 candidates standing in this by-election: Nick the Flying Brick (Official Monster Raving Loony), Ana Gunn (Liberal Democrat), Ben Habib (Reform), Helen Harrison (Conservative), Ankit Love Jknpp Jay Mala Post-Mortem (no description), Gen Kitchen (Labour), Alex Merola (Britain First), Will Morris (Green), Andre Pyne-Bailey (Independent), Marion Turner-Hawes (no description) and Kev Watts (Independent).
The constituency of Wellingborough is being replaced at the next general election by the new seat of Wellingborough & Rushden.
Keir Starmer: Win in Kingswood shows people are ready to trust Labour again
Sir Keir Starmer has said Labour’s win in Kingswood shows people are ready to trust the party in government.
The Labour leader praised Damien Egan’s “fantastic” win, after he overturned a Conservative majority of more than 11,000.
Sir Keir said: "This is a fantastic result in Kingswood that shows people are ready to put their trust in a Labour government.
"By winning in this Tory stronghold, we can confidently say that Labour is back in the service of working people and we will work tirelessly to deliver for them.
"To those who have put their trust in us, you can be safe in the knowledge that the Labour Party will deliver on your priorities. Labour will give Britain its future back."
Full result of the Kingswood by-election
Damien Egan (Labour) 11,176 (44.94 per cent, +11.50 per cent)
Sam Bromiley (Conservative) 8,675 (34.88 per cent, -21.31 per cent)
Rupert Lowe (Reform) 2,578 (10.37 per cent)
Lorraine Francis (Green) 1,450 (5.83 per cent, +3.40 per cent)
Andrew Brown (Liberal Democrat) 861 (3.46 per cent, -3.48 per cent)
Nicholas Wood (UKIP) 129 (0.52 per cent)
Lab maj 2,501 (10.06 per cent)
16.40 per cent swing Conservative to Labour
Damien Egan thanks Kingswood community for trust
Damien Egan, the newly elected Labour MP for Kingswood in South Gloucestershire, thanked his family and the many Labour activists who helped him win.
“Most of all, I’d like to say thank you, to the residents and people of Kingswood,” he said.
“Your honesty, your frankness has helped keep my campaign rooted in the issues that are really impacting our community – the cost of living crisis, safety of our streets and the NHS.
“Thank you for giving me your trust and for allowing me to serve the community that I’m from.”
‘Our country is at a crossroads’ - Damien Egan
Damien Egan, in his winning speech after winning the Kingswood by-election, said:“In Kingswood, as across the country, 14 years of Conservative government have sucked the hope out of our country with a feeling that no matter how hard you work, you just can’t move forward.
“And with Rishi’s recession we’re left again paying more and getting less. It doesn’t have to be this way, you know it, I know it, we all know it.
“When the Prime Minister finally finds the courage to give the people a say, we’re going to need each and every one of you again to come out and vote and make sure your voices are heard.
“Our country is at a crossroads. Under the Conservatives we can choose more managed decline, more chaos, more division or we can choose a changed Labour Party.”
Labour’s Kingswood swing would cost the Tories 169 seats nationally
The 16.4 per cent swing from the Tories to Labour would cost Rishi Sunak 169 seats at a general election, putting Sir Keir Starmer on course for an outright majority.
It is the sixth by-election win since Sir Keir took the reins from Jeremy Corbyn.
And it means the Tories have had nine by-election losses in this parliament, more than in the run up to Sir Tony Blair’s 1997 Labour landslide.
‘We can’t be unhappy with that’ - Reform UK
Reform’s 10 per cent share of the vote in Kingswood represents its best performance in a by-election so far this parliament, and is up from the 5 per cent and 4 per cent the party achieved in the Tamworth and Mid Bedfordshire by-elections respectively in October 2023.
Candidate Rupert Lowe was overhead telling his aides: “We can’t be unhappy with that.”
We spoke to new Kingswood MP Damien Egan
Damien Egan was with family in Yate, about a 30-minute drive from the count in Thornbury, after the polls closed at 10pm, before receiving a call that the result was going to be declared earlier than first expected.
The 42-year-old, who lives in Staple Hill, spoke to us after his win.
After we asked how he was feeling, and why he’d won, he said: “Incredibly exciting, it really hasn’t sunk in at all yet. I think the reason [we won] was because we talked to people about the issues that they cared about, cost-of-living crisis, talking about policing and feeling safer on the streets, and the NHS.”
Asked if he was worried over the impact of the antisemitism row in Rochdale on the vote, he said: “When you are a candidate, you worry about everything. I was worried about the rain more to be honest, because as I thought with such heavy rain people wouldn’t come out to vote, but I’ll be honest, the issues you are referring to didn’t come up.”
What triggered the by-elections?
Two by-elections were voted on by constituents in the Gloucestershire seat of Kingswood and the Northamptonshire seat of Wellingborough on Thursday in a key day in UK politics.
Kingswood’s vote was triggered by Chris Skidmore’s resignation as an MP in protest at Government legislation to boost North Sea oil and gas drilling.
He won the Gloucestershire constituency for the Tories at the past four general elections, before which Labour held it at every general election since 1992.
The by-election in Wellingborough comes after former Tory MP Peter Bone received a six-week suspension from the Commons when an inquiry found he had subjected a staff member to bullying and sexual misconduct.
He won the Northamptonshire constituency at every general election from 2005 to 2019, with Labour coming second in four of the five contests and Ukip in 2015. His majority in 2019 was 36%.
Labour’s Gen Kitchen wins the Wellingborough by-election
Labour has won the Wellingborough by-election, with candidate Gen Kitchen overturning the Conservatives’ 19,000 majority.
The 28-year-old beat the Tories’ Helen Harrison, the partner of disgraced former MP Peter Bone, whose resignation sparked the contest.
Ms Kitchen will be the first Labour MP for Wellingborough since Mr Bone turned the seat blue in 2005. She will also enter the House of Commons as one of its youngest MPs.
Ms Kitchen won with 13,844 votes, almost twice as many as Ms Harrison, who secured 7,408 votes.
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