Winning candidate Gen Kitchen said the result was a "stunning victory for the Labour Party and must send a message from Northamptonshire to Downing Street."
LONDON — U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's ruling Conservative Party suffered another double by-election defeat on Thursday, as the opposition Labour Party's momentum shows no sign of slowing.
The double defeat of Thursday was the latest in a string of unfavorable by-election results for the ruling party in what were previously considered safe seats.
"I was very pleased last night to see that we were clearly getting Tory switchers, in other words people who hadn't voted for the Labour Party before, coming out last night and voting for the Labour Party in a by-election."
The Labour Party maintains a lead of more than 20 points over the Conservatives in all national polling, with a general election due no later than January 2025.
Persons:
Kitchen, Peter Bone, —, Rishi Sunak's, Helen Harrison, Gen Kitchen, Chris Skidmore, Damien Egan, Keir Starmer, Tory switchers, hadn't, Boris Johnson, Robert Ford
Organizations:
Labour, Labour Party, Downing, Conservative, Conservatives, LONDON, Conservative Party, Kettering Leisure Village, Tamworth, Liberal Democrats, BBC, University of Manchester, CNBC
Locations:
Northamptonshire, Wellingborough , Northamptonshire, KETTERING, England, Wellingborough, Kettering, Kettering , England, Kingswood , South Gloucestershire, North, Kingswood, Mid Bedfordshire, West Midlands, Selby, Ainsty, Somerton, Frome