Labor in the United Kingdom restored its conservative majority on Thursday by winning two key by-election seats in Tamworth, north of the city of Birmingham, and Mid Bedfordshire, north of London, in a blow to the main minister , Rishi Sunak, before the next general election.
In Tamworth, the Labor candidate, Sarah Edwards, had a narrow margin over her Conservative rival, Andrew Cooper, who got 11,719 votes and 10,403 votes respectively.
The participation in these elections was at 35.9 percent.
Edwards assured that Tamworth “voted for the positive vision” of his party and for the “new beginning”: “They sent a clear message to (Prime Minister) Rishi Sunak and the Conservatives are fed up with a failed Government that has destroyed the economy and destroyed our public services,” he said.
“I have made promises to you that I intend to keep. I will be your voice in Westminster and challenge this government to get a better deal for Tamworth. You have my solemn promise. I know that many of You voted for Labor for the first time and I will not disappoint you,” he said to his supporters.
This election was held after the resignation in September of Conservative MP Chris Pincher, who was accused of abuse of power after groping two people. The lawmaker admitted that the incidents happened while he was off duty and therefore acting in his personal capacity.
Second win in one night
Minutes after Edwards’ victory was announced, the results of the Mid Bedfordshire election were announced, where the Labor candidate, Alistair Strathern, also won, receiving 13,872 votes compared to 12,680 for the Tory candidate. , Festus Akinbusoye, who dropped 28.6 percentage points compared to the latest results, from 2019.
Strathern, after his victory, said the two results showed the country was “desperate for change” and declared that he had delivered a “historic message” and “a historic moment.” “The Labor Party is not banned from anywhere and tonight’s result proves it,” he said, alleging that his party’s victory was possible because of the change in the party’s leadership.
The Mid Bedfordshire by-election came after MP Nadine Dorries resigned in August, eleven weeks after vowing to quit and launching a scathing attack on Sunak. The former minister announced in June that he was leaving the Commons with “immediate effect” in protest at not being included in Boris Johnson’s resignation honors list.
The leader of the Labor Party celebrated the victory
The leader of the Labor Party, Keir Starmer, after his party’s victory, said it was “a fantastic result which shows that the Labor Party is once again at the service of working people and has redesigned the map of politics.”
Also, he emphasized that “the victory in conservative strongholds shows that people really want change.”
“Voters in Mid Bedfordshire, Tamworth and the United Kingdom want a Labor government that is committed to helping workers, with a proper plan to rebuild our country,” he said.
“For those who have given us their trust, and those who are considering doing the same, the Labor Party will spend every day acting in your best interests and focusing on your priorities.
This double victory was the first time that Labor had achieved two by-election victories on the same day since 1962.
It should be noted that the Conservative Party lost support in mid-July when it lost two more important seats to Labor (in Selby and Ainsty, in North Yorkshire) and the Liberal Democrats (Somerton and Frome ).
