Tamworth and Mid Beds by-elections: Keir Starmer hails results as game-changer

Record-breaking wins in two by-elections are a "game changer" which shows Labour can now win anywhere, Sir Keir Starmer has said.

Labour secured two new MPs on Friday, by overturning huge Tory majorities in Mid-Bedfordshire and Tamworth.

The Labour leader said his party was "redrawing the political map" ahead of a general election, expected next year.

Tory Party Chair Greg Hands said the losses were down to voters staying at home, rather than switching to Labour.

As is often the case turnout was down at the by-elections, but the results were no less historic.

Labour overcame a 24,664 Tory majority in Mid-Bedfordshire to win the seat for the first time - the largest numerical majority ever overturned in a by-election in history.

In Tamworth, there was a 23.9% swing to Labour from the Tories - the second-biggest swing from the Conservatives to Labour at a by-election since 1945.

Speaking in Mid-Bedfordshire, Sir Keir said the result was "a game changer" and showed Labour could "win seats we've never won before".

"I know there are people who probably voted Tory in the past who vote for a changed Labour Party this time because they despair at the state of their own party," he told party activists.

The Labour party is now "the party of the future, the party of national renewal," he added.

The largely rural constituency of Mid Bedfordshire has had a Tory MP since 1931 and has never been held by Labour in its century-long history.

In a three-way fight for the seat, Labour's Alistair Strathern secured a swing of 20.5% to win by 1,192 votes.

The Conservative candidate Festus Akinbusoye, Bedfordshire's Police and Crime Commissioner came second with 12,680 votes and Lib Dem Emma Holland-Lindsay came third with 9,420 votes.

Both by-elections were triggered by resignations from the previous MP, with some anger locally at the circumstances of their departure.

Tamworth voted strongly for Brexit in 2016 and Labour will be hoping this means it can win in other leave-supporting areas in a general election.

The Conservative candidate Andrew Cooper, who was ushered out of a side door seconds after his defeat was confirmed, was 1,316 votes behind his Labour opponent.

The Tories stressed the result was based on reduced turnout, as only 35.9% of the electorate voted in Tamworth and 44% in Mid-Bedfordshire.

Mr Hands told the BBC it was disappointing to lose both by-elections - but "the biggest problem was previous Conservative voters staying at home".

"It was principally a problem we need to find better ways to energise our Conservative voters to come out and support the government."

He also sought to blame the "legacy issues" from the chaotic end of Liz Truss and Boris Johnson's time in office, which he said predates Rishi Sunak's premiership.