By-elections LIVE: Rishi Sunak faces double blow as Tories lose two seats to Labour | Politics | News

Defeats in Thursday’s by-elections in Kingswood and Wellingborough mean the Conservatives have lost more by-elections in a single parliament than any government since the 1960s.

The Tories have clocked up 10 such defeats since the 2019 general election – two more than the eight suffered by the 1992-97 Conservative government led by John Major.

It is more than any previous government since the 1966-70 Labour administration of Harold Wilson, which endured 15 losses.

Even accounting for the Conservatives‘ one by-election gain this parliament – winning Hartlepool from Labour in 2021 – the double defeat on Thursday brings the party’s overall by-election scorecard to nine net losses, which is still worse than any government since 1966-70.

Here are the key statistics and historical benchmarks from the results of Thursday’s by-elections:

– Wellingborough

Labour won the Northamptonshire seat of Wellingborough on a swing in the share of the vote of 28.5 percentage points – the second largest swing from Conservative to Labour at a by-election since the Second World War.

– Kingswood

Labour overturned a Conservative majority of 11,220 to win the Gloucestershire seat of Kingswood, gaining a seat the party had previously held from 1992 to 2010.

It is the sixth-largest Conservative majority overturned by Labour at a by-election since the Second World War.