Tories, reeling from huge by-election defeats, urge Sunak to change course as support 'collapses'

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Rishi Sunak is under growing pressure within his own party to change course, amid warnings that historic by-election defeats show support for the Conservatives is in the process of “collapse”.

Labor overthrew huge Tory majorities to win the seats of Kingswood, Gloucestershire, and Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, hours after official figures showed the UK was fell into recession.

The results have been established. a record for almost 60 years, with the government presiding over more by-election defeats in a single parliament than any other administration since the 1960s.

The Wellingborough result also saw the biggest ever drop in the Conservative vote share in a by-election, surpassing that in Christchurch in 1993.

Labor leader Sir Keir Starmer said the results showed "the country needs change.” But Mr Sunak tried to play down the common blows by assigning blame for the “particularly difficult” circumstances surrounding the two by-elections – and insisting his “plan” was working.

The votes were called in honor of a former conservative. One minister resigned in protest at Mr Sunak's weakening of environmental commitments and another was found guilty of bullying and sexual misconduct.

The deadly defeat came as:

Mr. Sunak set a new post-war record for the number of Tory by-election defeats, surpassing the eight suffered by John Major in the run-up to Tony Blair's landslide victory in 1997. A Tory minister has disavowed selective editing by his party of video of Sadiq Khan accidentally calling Labor anti-Semitic, removing London mayor correction Nigel Farage's Reform Party won more votes in one of the by-elections than the Labor majority - a result which will shake the nerves of the conservatives. A leading pollster said the results showed the Conservatives were in “very, very serious electoral trouble”. Conservative colleague Ed Vaizey said Mr Sunak was not a “brilliant politician”, but could he...