Key events
Tamworth byelection results in full
Here are the full results from Tamworth, from PA Media.
Lab gain from C
Sarah Edwards (Lab) 11,719 (45.80%, +22.12%)
Andy Cooper (C) 10,403 (40.66%, -25.66%)
Ian Cooper (Reform) 1,373 (5.37%)
Ashlea Simon (Britain 1st) 580 (2.27%)
Robert Bilcliff (UKIP) 436 (1.70%)
Sue Howarth (Green) 417 (1.63%, -0.40%)
Sunny Virk (LD) 417 (1.63%, -3.64%)
Howling Laud Hope (Loony) 155 (0.61%)
Peter Longman (ND) 86 (0.34%)
Lab maj 1,316 (5.14%)
23.89% swing C to Lab
Electorate 71,321; Turnout 25,586 (35.87%, -28.47%)
2019 result: C maj 19,634 (42.63%) – Turnout 46,056 (64.34%) Pincher (C) 30,542 (66.31%); Bain (Lab Co-op) 10,908 (23.68%); Wheway (LD) 2,426 (5.27%); Tilley (Green) 935 (2.03%); Bilcliff (UKIP) 814 (1.77%); Wright (Ind) 431 (0.94%)
Good morning. The word “historic” is overused by journalists, but even the most curmudgeonly subeditor is not going to object to it being allowed out of the cupboard this morning after Labour two byelection gains in what the party described as “the biggest byelection shock in history”.
The results came within an hour of each other. Shortly before 3am, Labour won Tamworth, the previously safe Tory seat in Staffordshire where the byelection was caused by the resignation of the former deputy chief whip over a groping scandal that contributed to the downfall of Boris Johnson. Labour won with a swing of 23.9 percentage points, the second largest swing the party has achieved in a byelection since 1945.
And less than an hour later it won Mid Bedfordshire, the seat previously held by Nadine Dorries (who resigned in a huff because she did not get a peerage in Johnson’s resignation honours). The swing here was “only” 20.5 points, but Dorries had a majority of 24,664 and, in numerical terms, this is the largest majority ever overturned in a byelection.
The victory in Mid Bedfordshire is particularly sweet for Labour because the Liberal Democrats were fighting the seat hard (Tamworth was in effect just a simple Labour-Tory contest), and there had been speculation that, with the opposition vote split, the Tories might hold the seat.
Peter Kyle, the shadow science secretary who ran the campaign in Mid Bedfordshire, said:
This is a huge night. Make no bones about it, this is a political earthquake that has unfolded here.
This is the biggest by-election shock in history, it is a political earthquake and it is one that is sending an unignorable message to Westminster and to Rishi Sunak that this country deserves better.
Here is Sammy Gecsoyler’s story about the Tamworth result.
And here is Kevin Rawlinson’s story about Mid Bedfordshire.
I will be covering all the reaction to the results as the day goes on.
And this morning Rishi Sunak is continuing his tour of the Middle East with a visit to Egypt. I will be covering that too.
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