Labour Party wins bellwether vote, setback for UK PM Rishi Sunak

LONDON: In an ominous setback for UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, the ruling Conservative Party lost two of its safe parliamentary seats to the Labour Party in a bellwether vote ahead of the next general election, The New York Times reported.

This has come ahead of the next general elections, that is expected within the next 15 months

Labour’s Alistair Strathern and Sarah Edwards cruised to victory in the seats of Mid Bedfordshire and Tamworth, overturning Tory majorities of nearly 25,000 and 20,000, respectively, Al Jazeera reported.

Notably, the governing Tories had held Mid Bedfordshire since 1931, and Tamworth since 1996.

George Osborne, a former Conservative chancellor, had earlier warned that the loss of Mid-Bedfordshire would mean “Armageddon” for the centre-right party.

Labour leader Keir Starmer hailed the wins as proof of the public’s desire for new leadership.

“These are phenomenal results. Winning in these Tory strongholds shows that people overwhelmingly want change and they’re ready to put their faith in our changed Labour Party to deliver it,” Al Jazeera quoted Starmer as saying.

However, several analysts have cautioned against over-interpreting these types of local contests — known as by-elections — where there is no prospect of the result changing the government, and voters often cast their ballots to register a protest against the governing party, as per New York Times.

Less than 36 per cent of registered voters turned out to vote in Tamworth; in Mid Bedfordshire the number was higher, at 44 per cent.

The Labour party has enjoyed a double-digit polling lead over the Conservatives for more than a year, as voters fume over high inflation, a weak economy and long waiting times to use the state-run health service, Al Jazeera reported.

During over 13 years in power, the Conservatives have led the UK through some of its most significant events in decades, including Brexit and the COVID-19 pandemic, Al Jazeera reported.

Sunak — the fifth Tory leader since 2010 — was not in the UK for the by-election results as he was in Israel to express support for the country in its war with the armed Palestinian group Hamas.

Lately, Sunak has tried to seize the political initiative with a series of major decisions; scaling back climate change targets, cancelling the second phase of a high-speed rail project, announcing new measures to phase out the sale of cigarettes to young people and proposing a shake-up to the high school examination system, New York Times reported. (ANI)

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