Painful loss of Prime Minister Sunak in midterm elections, but total defeat avoided

AFP Prime Minister Sunak in the British Parliament, where his party loses two seats

NOS Nieuws•vandaag, 07:23

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s Conservative Party has lost in two of its three constituencies in by-elections. Only in the district of former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Uxbridge and South Ruislip did the party narrowly survive. This means that the party loses two important seats in parliament.

All three districts are known as conservative strongholds. The by-elections were called for after Johnson stepped down as a member of parliament in early June when a committee ruled damning his role in illegal parties during corona lockdowns.

Two other party members also left prematurely. In the Selby and Ainsty district of northern England, the party lost to Labour, the largest opposition party, by more than 4,000 votes. In Somerton and Frome, in the southwest of the country, a district went to the Liberal Democrats, with more than 11,000 votes.

Victory for the Conservative Party in Johnson’s district was minimal, with Sunak’s party gaining just 495 votes.

Indicator of popularity

There will be parliamentary elections in the United Kingdom next year and the results of the by-election are seen as a barometer of the popularity of the two parties in the country. The loss of the seats has no direct political consequences for Sunak at the moment.

Sunak took office as prime minister last year and was faced with the task of getting the economy back on track. The country is facing economic stagnation and high inflation. The credibility of Sunak’s party has also been damaged by a series of scandals under Johnson and by the economic mismanagement of his successor Liz Truss, who was prime minister for only six weeks.

Polls show that the Conservative Party is not doing well. There is a chance that Labor will become the largest party in national elections for the first time in five elections.

Source