Swing from Tories to Labour was because Conservative voters stayed at home, party chair says

Conservative losses in Thursday’s (20 July) by elections were because Tory voters stayed at home, Greg Hands has said.

The Tory party chairman spoke to TalkTV after his party lost two safe seats as Labour gained Selby and Ainsty and the Liberal Democrats won in Somerton and Frome.

A 24 per cent swing towards Labour was “largely driven by Conservative voters staying at home,” Mr Hands said.

“The result in Uxbridge reflects something wider.”

The Tories managed to narrowly cling on to Boris Johnson’s old Uxbridge and South Ruislip seat.