UK's ruling Conservatives suffer major setback as Labour win second by-election

A near 20,000-vote Conservative majority was overturned by the Labour Party in Tamworth as they clinched victory for the first time in the area since a bellwether byelection took place in 1996.

Sarah Edwards from the Labour Party clinched 11,719 votes ahead of Tory candidate Andrew Cooper, who received 10,403 votes, which clearly gave Labour a lead of 1,316 votes. The result was a 23.89 per cent swing to the party of Keir Starmer.

The voter turnout in the by-election was also low at 35.87 per cent, which was a little more than half of the turnout seen in 2019. The byelections of Thursday seemed like a signal for the Labour Party which took away the Tory majority and won Mid Bedfordshire, which was the former seat of Nadine Dorries.

Edwards, in her victory speech, stated that the voters of Tamworth had “sent a clear message to Rishi Sunak and the Conservatives that they have had enough of this failed government, which has crashed the economy and destroyed our public services. The people of Tamworth have made it clear. It’s time for change.”

Conservative candidate Cooper reached the counting hall after other candidates had reached and were standing on the stage and waiting for the announcement of the results.

Just before he arrived, Conservative party operatives were warned by the council officials that the declaration of results could happen without his presence. One Tory staffer was heard commenting that Cooper got lost in the parking area.

What triggered the Tamworth elections?

The Tamworth elections took place when Chris Pincher, who was elected to the seat in 2010, resigned after it was found that he had groped two men in an "egregious case of sexual misconduct".

UK's then-prime minister Boris Johnson, who was handling the case, saw the submission of ministerial resignations which started the end of his premiership.

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This week, Cooper faced flak for sharing a Facebook post in 2020 in which jobless parents, who were not able to feed their children, were asked to “f*** off” if they were able to pay a £30 phone bill.

While refusing to condemn the comments of Cooper at prime minister's questions, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said that he was proud of the fact the government was able to support families during the cost of living crisis.

Speaking to the Daily Mirror on Wednesday (Oct 18), Cooper defended sharing the Facebook post, stating, “There are too many people on out-of-work benefits and there needs to be improved incentives to get people into work.”

(With inputs from agencies)

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