UK politics live: Labour overturns Tory majorities in Kingswood and Wellingborough to secure double byelection win

Gen Kitchen, the new MP for Wellingborough, said she was “ecstatic” at the result, adding that the double byelection win for Labour shows that people are “fed up” and want change.

“The people of Wellingborough have spoken for Britain. This is a stunning victory for the Labour party and must send a message from Northamptonshire to Downing Street,” she said.

After the result was announced, Conservative candidate Helen Harrison was swarmed with cameras while leaving the counting hall and declined to say whether her loss was Sunak’s fault, instead saying she was “disappointed”.

The byelection in Wellingborough was triggered when voters recalled the former Tory MP Peter Bone after he received a six-week suspension from the Commons when an inquiry found he had subjected a staff member to bullying and sexual misconduct.

Harrison is the partner of Bone and there was controversy when she was selected as the Conservative candidate.

High-profile Tory MPs have been absent in the constituency and not a single frontbencher endorsed Harrison. Last month, Rishi Sunak dodged the opportunity to endorse her after he was asked whether he was “proud” she had been selected given her connection to Bone. He said it was up to local members to select their candidate.

Harrison stayed firmly out of the spotlight in the run-up to the byelection. She refused all national media interviews and has not posted on the social media platform X since 11 January, when she announced her selection.

Damien Egan used his victory speech in Kingswood to thank voters, saying: “Fourteen years of Conservative government have sucked the hope out of our country. There’s a feeling that no matter how hard you work, you just can’t move forward, and with Rishi’s recession we are left once again paying more and getting less.”

Asked if he had been worried that the turmoil in Labour this week could have put the result in jeopardy, he said candidates worried about everything, including the heavy rain that fell on voting day.

He said Labour’s troubles had not come up on the doorstep. “The things that our residents are telling us are the things that Keir and the Labour party have been talking about – the NHS, cost of living crisis, community policing. Kingswood feels neglected after 14 years of Conservative government.”

The defeated Conservative candidate, Sam Bromiley, left the count as soon as Egan had finished speaking, declining to comment to reporters.

North East Somerset Tory MP Jacob Rees-Mogg was left to speak to reporters. He highlighted the poor turnout of 37.1%.

“If you’re a Tory and you stay at home, Rishi Sunak will still be prime minister in the morning,” he said. “I certainly thought this result would be worse. Bear in mind a lot of the postal votes would have been back before Labour’s problem with antisemitism was in the public.”

Labour has claimed victory in the Kingswood and Wellingborough byelections, dealing a double blow to Rishi Sunak’s government.

Labour candidate Gen Kitchen overturned a Tory majority of more than 18,000 to secure victory in Wellingborough, making it the first win for Labour in the seat since the 2001 general election.

Kitchen won the seat with 13,844 votes, beating the Conservatives’ Helen Harrison who received 7,408 votes.

The byelection in Wellingborough was triggered when voters in the constituency recalled the former Tory MP Peter Bone after he received a six-week suspension from the Commons when an inquiry found he had subjected a staff member to bullying and sexual misconduct.

In the South Gloucestershire constituency of Kingswood, Labour overturned a majority of more than 11,000.

Damien Egan, who resigned as the mayor of Lewisham in south-east London to contest the seat even though it is being abolished at the next general election, won by 11,1176 votes to 8,675 for his nearest rival, the Conservatives’ Sam Bromiley.

The byelection was called after Chris Skidmore, a leading Tory voice on green issues, resigned in protest against the government’s dash for oil and gas.

Over the last half century, Kingswood has swung between the Tories and Labour. Skidmore won the seat in 2010 and had built up an 11,220 majority by 2019.

As the constituency is abolished at the next general election, Kingswood voters will be divided among four constituencies. Egan had previously been selected as the candidate for one of these, Bristol North East, a key Labour target.

Good morning and welcome to the UK politics live blog as we look at reaction to two byelections with huge implications for the party leaderships of Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer.

Here are the headlines:

• Labour has overturned Tory majorities in Kingswood and Wellingborough to claim victory in two byelections overnight.

• The byelections took place as the UK slipped into a recession under Sunak’s government, breaking one of his five pledges: to bring growth.

• The newly reconvened executive in Northern Ireland has agreed an allocation of £685m for public sector pay.

Aside from reaction to the byelections, it should be a quiet day in UK politics. None of the Commons, Lords, Scottish parliament, Senedd or Stormont assembly are sitting today.