After mixed results in the three-fold vote, political parties are eyeing the general elections Politics News

After mixed results in Thursday’s ballot box contests, the three leading political parties are turning their attention to next year’s general elections.

conservative managed to hold Overnight in former prime minister Boris Johnson’s seat of Uxbridge and South Ruislip, Rishi Sink said the win showed the next national vote was “not done”.

However, despite the win sparing it the embarrassment of losing three by-elections in one night, the party’s majority fell from 7,000 to just 495 – a 6.7 per cent swing for Labor – and the victory was put down to a local issue. Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ)rather than the Prime Minister’s own policy platform.

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Hard work has seen. A row broke out in its ranks. After missing out on the night’s most winnable seat, its leader Sir Keir Starmer called on London Mayor Sadiq Khan to “reflect” on the outcome of the vote.

But after Selby and Anstey’s surprise victory in the North Yorkshire seat, overturning the Tories’ landslide majority of 20,137 – the biggest ever in a by-election – Sir Kerr said there were “cries for change” in the voting booths, promising his party would deliver.

The Liberal Democrats won their biggest victory in the South West, Taking the seat of Somerton and FromeDespite his former 19,000 Tory majority.

Their leader, Sir Ed Davey, said he was “confident” his party could hold the seat in the general election, claiming voters “feel the Conservatives have forgotten what it’s like to live in the countryside”.

The date for the election has not yet been set, but parliamentary rules mean the latest Mr Sink could call is January 2025 – with rumors suggesting it could come as early as next spring.

The evening of three by-elections was seen by many analysts as a warm-up for the main event.

Beth Rigby, political editor of Sky News, said the results would not give the Conservatives enough confidence to avoid contesting the next general election.

With 23.7% swings to Labor in Selby and Anstey and 29% to Labor in Somerton and Frome, the figures show the opposition parties were performing in line with by-election results in the waning days of Sir John Major’s government – which ended with Labour’s Sir Tony Bella.

Labor would need a 12% swing across the country to secure 124 seats and a majority in the next contest.

But Beth Rigby said there were hopes in Tory ranks that if the prime minister could block the opposition on substantive issues – such as ULEZ – there was an opportunity to create dividing lines between Labor and the Tories, giving Mr Sink a fighting chance.

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For today, however, the newly elected MPs will focus on their new jobs in the Commons – although they will have to wait until the end of the summer break to take their seats.

The Tory winner of Uxbridge and South Ruislip has big shoes to fill, Steve Tuckwell, who resigned in shock last month after taking over Mr Johnson’s former seat, which was found to be misleading parliament at party gate.

But Mr Tuckwell said he was “proud” to represent the area he grew up in and “the hard work starts today”.

Keir Mather, the former Labor MP for Selby and Anstey, replaces outgoing Tory MP Nigel Adams – a close ally of Mr Johnson who decided to quit shortly after the former prime minister, allowing Mr Sink to contest another by-election.

At 25, Mr Mather will be the youngest MP in the Commons – nicknamed “the baby of the House” – but said it was time for “a fresh start” in the constituency.

And Sarah Dyke, the New Lib Dem MP for Somerton and Frome, replaces former Tory MP David Warburton, who stood down after admitting to taking cocaine and sexual harassment allegations, which he denies.

The local councilor said his win showed his party was “back in the West Country” and promised his constituents: “I won’t let you down.”