John Curtice says by-election losses ‘bad news’ for Tories
Nigel Farage predicted the Tories are on course for a “disaster” at the next general election following by-election losses.
Labour secured swings of more than 20 percentage points to take Tamworth and Mid Bedfordshire, which were both previously safe seats.
Mr Farage said: “The huge wins for Labour in the by-elections overnight confirms what I have said before.
“The Tories are headed for a deserved electoral disaster.”
Mid Bedfordshire saw the largest majority overturned by Labour at a by-election since 1945.
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Meanwhile, Tamworth marked the second-highest post-war by-election swing to Labour.
A jubilant Sir Keir Starmer boasted that Labour has “made history” following the wins.
But Conservative Party chairman Greg Hands blamed “legacy issues” that “predate” Rishi Sunak’s premiership.
He also said there was “a lot of fury” among voters about the background to the by-elections, which were triggered by the high-profile departures of their previous MPs.
And he insisted there is not any “enthusiasm” for Labour on the doorsteps.
It comes as polling expert Professor Sir John Curtice warned that unless the Conservatives can “fairly dramatically and fairly radically turn things around” then they are “staring defeat in the face” at next year’s general election.
Prof Sir John told the BBC: “The truth is two by-elections results, both of them extremely bad news for the Conservatives.
“Now in whatever criteria you use, they’re up there very clearly in the top 10 of worst Conservative performances against the Labour Party.
“And we’ve now had three by-elections with swings of 20 percent of more to the Labour Party. The last time we had that was the 1992-1997 Parliament.
“It is 12 months to go, this isn’t destiny, but it is a pointer and it is a pointer that, unless the Conservatives can fairly dramatically and fairly radically turn things around, then they are in truth staring defeat in the face in 12 months’ time.”
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