Polls have closed in two byelections where Labour is seeking to take seats from Rishi Sunak’s Conservative party. In Wellingborough in Northamptonshire, the Tories were defending a majority of more than 18,000; and in Kingswood in South Gloucestershire its majority from the 2019 general election was more than 11,000. The results are expected in Wellingborough at about 4am on Friday, with Kingswood expected to declare between 2am and 5am. Labour is considered the favourite to win both seats. A Conservative source sounded downbeat about the result for Sunak’s party. “We have fought robust campaigns on the ground in both of these seats with local candidates. But these byelections were always going to be hard. “The government of the day rarely win byelections. Both of these seats have been Labour recently and they require smaller swings than were seen in recent byelections.” Pat McFadden, Labour’s election coordinator, said: “We are proud of the positive campaigns we have run in Kingswood and Wellingborough. We were always aware of the challenge ahead of us with the large Conservative majorities in both seats, which are both beyond our target list for a general election. “Our campaigns have focused relentlessly on the cost of living and delivering for working people. We have highlighted that people in Kingswood and Wellingborough deserve better than a Tory government which has presided over 14 years of failure and left the economy in tatters. Rishi’s recession means this Tory government is unable to concentrate on what matters to people in both these areas and across the country. “It will be some time before we know the results, but we are making real progress in all corners of our country.” The Wellingborough byelection was called after veteran Brexit-supporter Peter Bone was recalled by voters after the parliamentary watchdog found he had broken the MPs’ code of conduct on four counts of bullying and one of sexual misconduct. The party generated further local anger by selecting Bone’s partner, Helen Harrison, as its candidate. The Kingswood byelection was called after Tory MP Chris Skidmore resigned in protest at Sunak’s decision to allow new oil and gas licences to be issued. In contrast to low-profile campaigns from the Conservative party, Labour has had a strong presence on the streets of Wellingborough, with MPs Yvette Cooper, Tulip Siddiq and Feryal Clark among those supporting Labour candidate Gen Kitchen.
Keir Starmer visited football club AFC Rushden and Diamonds with Kitchen on Tuesday. On polling day, the Labour leader was carrying out phone canvassing of both constituencies from the party’s London HQ accompanied by musician turned clean water campaigner Feargal Sharkey.
Also campaigning in person in Wellingborough on Thursday was Reform UK deputy co-leader Ben Habib, who was seeking for the party to get its record share of the vote at a byelection. The party has been polling at near 10% in some national polls. Standing on a platform opposing net zero policies, Habib had told the FT he had been buoyed up by “lots of waves and tooting of horns” when driving the party’s battlebus.
Damien Egan, the Labour candidate in Kingswood, grew up in the constituency, but had been living in London. He resigned as the mayor of Lewisham last month. The Tory candidate in Kingswood, Sam Bromiley, leads the party’s group on South Gloucestershire council. His campaign has focused on trying to prevent the local authority building 8,000 new homes in the area, in the same week that the Tory government launched its plans to try to increase housebuilding. The Conservatives have already lost eight byelections during this parliament. Should they lose either of the votes today they will have lost more byelections than any government since the 1960s, eclipsing the eight lost by John Major’s government between 1992 and 1997. Another byelection will be held on 29 February, when Rochdale votes in a campaign that has made national headlines with the Labour and the Green parties withdrawing support from their candidates, and former MPs George Galloway and Simon Danczuk both standing.