In Wellingborough, which went to the polls after Conservative MP Peter Bone was recalled over allegations of misconduct, Labour achieved a large 28.5 percent swing. Newly elected Labour MP Gen Kitchen scooped up 45.8 percent of the votes in a seat that has been Tory since 2005.
The Wellingborough result marks the worst-ever by-election collapse in Tory vote share, down 38 points. In both seats, the Conservative drop (in percentage points) was almost twice as big as the gain in Labour vote share.
The Kingswood by-election saw a 16.4 percent swing to Labour, with candidate Damian Egan getting 44.9 percent of the vote share. The Tories have held Kingswood since 2010, but a by-election was called after a former energy minister quit the Conservative party in protest at Sunak’s fossil fuel plans.
Chris Hopkins, political research director at polling agency Savanta, said the swing to Labour in Kingswood was “decent,” ranking “somewhere between recent by-election scalps in Wakefield and Mid-Bedfordshire.”
“The swing in Wellingborough, though, is outrageous; 28.5 percent, the second biggest Conservative to Labour by-election swing since 1945.”
Labour leader Keir Starmer said the “fantastic results” overnight “show people want change and are ready to put their faith in a changed Labour Party to deliver it.”