UK voters deliver double blow to Rishi Sunak, electing Labour lawmakers in two special elections

Sunak, the fifth Conservative leader since 2016, has restored a measure of stability but failed to revive the governing party’s popularity.

Voters in two districts in England delivered new blows to beleaguered Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, electing opposition-party lawmakers in seats that Sunak’s Conservatives had held for years.

Labour Party candidate Damien Egan won the House of Commons seats of Kingswood in southwest England, and Labour’s Gen Kitchen took Wellingborough in the country’s center, results announced Friday showed. The Conservatives won both by large margins at the last national election in 2019 but saw support collapse in Thursday’s special elections.

The hard-right Reform U.K. — formerly known as the Brexit Party — came third, putting more pressure on the Conservatives.

Labour leader Keir Starmer said the results “show people want change.”

Labour candidate Damien Egan gives a speech after being declared MP for Kingswood, after being declared winner in the Kingswood by-election, at the Thornbury Leisure Centre, Gloucestershire, Friday, February 16, 2024.

The results will likely worsen fears among Conservatives that, after 14 years in power, the party is heading for defeat when a national election is held in less than a year. The Tories consistently lag between 10 and 20 points behind the left-of-centre Labour in opinion polls.

Thursday’s elections replaced two lawmakers who left suddenly, one in protest, the other under a cloud.

Lawmaker Chris Skidmore quit the Kingswood seat last month to protest Sunak’s lack of commitment to green energy. Long-serving Wellingborough legislator Peter Bone was ousted over allegations of bullying and sexual misconduct.

The Conservatives have now lost 10 by-elections since the last general election, more than any administration since the 1960s. That includes six defeats — and one win — since Sunak took office in October 2022. He replaced Liz Truss, who rocked the economy with a plan for unfunded tax cuts and lasted just seven weeks in office.

Sunak, the fifth Conservative leader since 2016, has restored a measure of stability but failed to revive the governing party’s popularity.

The Conservatives have been in power nationally since 2010, years that saw austerity following the world banking crisis, Britain’s divisive decision to leave the European Union, a global pandemic and a European war that triggered the worst cost-of-living crisis in decades.