Double loss for Tories in Selby and Somerton as Sunak gets kicking
Rishi Sunak has suffered a double defeat, losing Selby and Ainsty to Labour in a historic victory as the Liberal Democrats took Somerton and Froome.
Keir Mather secured a Labour victory in Selby, North Yorkshire, taking 16,456 votes – or 45.96 per cent – compared to Tory Claire Holmes’ 12,295 votes (34.34 per cent).
The 25-year-old, who will now become Parliament’s youngest MP, known as the baby of the House, achieved a swing of 23.7 per cent, overturning a 20,137 Conservative majority.
While in Somerton, in the southwest, local councillor Sarah Dyke won 21,187 votes – or 54.62 per cent – versus Conservative Faye Purbrick’s 10,179 votes (26.24 per cent).
‘Rewritten the rules’
Labour came below the Reform Party, taking just 2.6 per cent of the 38,788 strong turnout.
Speaking after the result was declared, Mather said he “understood the enormity of what has just happened”, adding: “We have rewritten the rules on where Labour can win.”
He told reporters it felt like “we are on the precipice of a Labour government”.
In Somerset, where the Lib Dems called the result before midnight, Dyke said voters were “fed up… frustrated, they are angry and they want a hard working Liberal Democrat MP”.
She said she was “excited, exhilarated and most of all humbled” at the result.
‘Tide still out’
Party leader Sir Ed Davey called the result “stunning” and said the Lib Dems were “firmly back in the West Country,” after overturning the existing 19,000 majority.
While Sir Keir Starmer cited a “historic result” in Selby, saying “people are looking at Labour and seeing a changed party that is focused entirely on the priorities of working people”.
He added: “It is clear just how powerful the demand for change is. Voters put their trust in us – many for the first time.”
Pollster John Curtice suggested the Uxbridge result may “raise questions about the potential fragility of support for Labour” but said that “the tide is still a long way out” for the Tories.
Conservative MP Johnny Mercer told Sky News: “You’ve seen people living under Sadiq Khan as London mayor and they’re pretty annoyed about – the Tories have gone and won a by-election mid-term.”