Blow to PM Sunak’s party as UK opposition wins special election and another minister stands down
- Result is bad news for Conservatives hammered by scandal-plagued former PM Boris Johnson, followed by turmoil under short-term successor Liz Truss
- Former finance minister Sajid Javid said he won’t be standing at the next election, and will quit at the nationwide poll due before January 2025 at the latest
Britain’s opposition Labour Party has won a special election for a northwest England seat in Parliament, the first test of voter sentiment since Conservative Prime Minister Rishi Sunak took office in October.
Labour held onto the City of Chester constituency in the northwest of England with an increased vote share of 61 per cent, according to results announced Friday. Labour won 50 per cent of the votes in Chester at the last national election in 2019.
Labour leader Keir Starmer said the result showed people are “fed up” with the Conservative government.
Thursday’s by-election was called after Labour lawmaker Christian Matheson stepped down over allegations that he made inappropriate sexual advances to a member of his staff.
The result is bad news for the Conservatives, whose popularity has been hammered by the scandal-plagued three-year-term of former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, which ended in September, and weeks of turmoil under his short-term successor, Liz Truss. Truss quit in October after her plan for unfunded tax cuts spooked financial markets and rocked the economy.
Sunak replaced her and announced a package of tax increases and spending cuts aimed at restoring confidence in the nation’s finances. But the economic picture remains gloomy: Inflation hit 11.1 per cent in October, many people are struggling to pay soaring energy bills and millions of workers, including railway staff, ambulance drivers and nurses, are staging strikes to demand major pay increases.