LONDON (AP) — Voters in two English constituencies have dealt another blow to the beleaguered. Chancellor Rishi Sunakelected an opposition MP in a seat long held by Mr Sunak's Conservative Party.
Results released on Friday showed Labor's Damien Egan winning the House of Commons seat of Kingswood in south-west England, while Labour's General Kitchen won Wellingborough in the center of the country. Conservatives won the last national election in 2019 by large margins, but their support collapsed in Thursday's special election.
The far-right Reform Britain (formerly known as the Brexit Party) came in third place, increasing pressure on the Conservative Party.
Labor leader Keir Starmer said the result “shows people want change”.
Results are likely to be worse Concerns among conservatives The party, which has been in power for 14 years, is facing defeat in national elections to be held within a year. Opinion polls consistently show the Conservatives trailing the centre-left Labor Party by 10 to 20 points.
Thursday's election replaced two lawmakers who abruptly resigned, one in protest and the other under cloud cover.
Member of Parliament chris skidmore He resigned from his Kingswood seat last month to protest against Mr Sunak. Lack of commitment to green energy.He was a long-serving member of the Wellingborough County Legislature. Peter Bourne He was expelled on suspicion of bullying and sexual misconduct.
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The Conservative Party has lost 10 by-elections since the last general election, more than any government since the 1960s. This includes six losses and one win since Sunak took over in October 2022. Mr Sunak replaces Liz Truss, who rocked the economy. Unfunded tax reduction plan And he was in office for just seven weeks.
Mr Sunak, the fifth Conservative Party leader since 2016, has restored some stability, but has failed to restore the party's popularity.
The Conservative Party has been in power nationally since 2010, and has been through a number of challenges including the World Bank crisis, the divisive decision to leave the EU, a global pandemic, and the European war that sparked the worst cost-of-living crisis in decades. This was followed by several years of austerity.
Opinion polls show the Conservative Party has gained support across the country, from wealthy southern voters who left their support after Brexit to working-class northern voters who switched from Labor in the 2019 election, when then prime minister It has been shown that they are losing. boris johnson It promised to spread prosperity to areas that had long been neglected.
These promises remain largely unfulfilled, and economic growth in the UK has come to a virtual standstill. is in a recession For the first time since the coronavirus pandemic began, at the end of 2023.
In his victory speech, Mr Egan said: “In Kingswood, as in the rest of the country, 14 years of Conservative government have sucked the hope out of this country, making us feel like no matter how hard we try, we can't move forward.” “It doesn't have to be this way – you know it, I know it, we all know it.”
Conservative Party chairman Richard Holden described the result as “deeply disappointing”, but the party blamed the low turnout (fewer than 40% of voters cast a vote) on the British electorate's lack of enthusiasm for Labor. He said that it is an expression of.
But Strathclyde University pollster John Curtis said the results confirmed the Conservatives were in a “very serious electoral problem”.
“If the Conservative Party is to recover from its current position, it will have to break the historical record,” he told the BBC.
Conservative defeat may embolden Mr Sunak many rivals inside awkward party, they are already positioning themselves for a leadership contest that is likely to follow an election loss. Some even want to oust Mr Sunak sooner and replace him with a low-tax, low-immigration right-winger who could win back reform voters. Some warn that imposing unelected leaders on the country could be counterproductive.
Mr Sunak's only consolation is that Labor is also in turmoil.Last week, the party watered down the key. green investment pledgeHe said the Conservatives had left the economy too weak to keep their promises.
Mr Starmer has also struggled to root out allegations of anti-Semitism within his party.This week's party rejected the candidate Ahead of another special election after newspapers published remarks he made at a local party meeting alleging Israel had sanctioned Hamas' Oct. 7 attack as a pretext. invade Gaza.
Critics say this is proof that Labor has not eradicated the Labor Party. antisemitism worsened Under former leader Jeremy Corbyn, an ardent supporter of the Palestinians and critic of Israel. It is unclear from opinion polls whether the controversy has had a negative impact on Labor.