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The Conservative Party “took a beating” after losing to Labour in two recent by-elections, a Cabinet minister has admitted.
Labour overturned substantial Tory majorities in Kingswood and Wellingborough on Thursday, with the latter seeing the second-largest swing from Tory to Labour at a by-election since the Second World War.
It is the latest in a series of by-election losses for the party which also saw Tamworth, Selby and Ainsty, and Mid Bedfordshire taken by Labour last year, while Somerton and Frome was taken by the Liberal Democrats.
Speaking to the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme, illegal migration minister Michael Tomlinson said the latest by-elections were “set against a very difficult backdrop”.
He went on to blame the loses on increased votes for Reform UK, suggesting that “what comes across to me is it’s very clear that a vote for Reform is actually a vote to let Labour in”.
It comes after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak blamed the by-election defeats on low voter turnout, telling broadcasters on Friday that the results show “that we’ve got work to do to show people that we are delivering on their priorities”.
“It also shows that there isn’t a huge amount of enthusiasm for the alternative in Keir Starmer and the Labour Party, and that’s because they don’t have a plan,” he said.
Around 37 per cent of voters turned out in Kingswood and 38 per cent in Wellingborough. Previous by-elections saw turnouts of over 40 per cent.
This was echoed by Conservative Party chairman Richard Holden, who told Sky News earlier this week that the figures suggested his party need to do more “to get people out there and enthused to vote again”.
The double defeat has reignited speculation about Mr Sunak’s future and suggestions that he could face a leadership challenge ahead of the next election.
But, speaking to the Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips programme on Sky News, Mr Tomlinson said he did not recognise the idea many MPs privately want Mr Sunak to go.
He said: “We’ve got to look at where we started when the Prime Minister became Prime Minister, inflation was at 11.1 per cent. It’s now down to 4 per cent.
“That was his top priority, was to halve inflation. That is the plan. The plan is beginning to work.
“You’re right of course it’s been a challenging set of economic circumstances. But despite that, we’ve ensured that we’ve got inflation down… I speak to my colleagues all the time, I speak to them whether they’re on the right, whether they’re in the centre.”