British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak braced for defeats in key elections
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[July 20, 2023]
By Andrew MacAskill
LONDON (Reuters) - Prime Minister Rishi Sunak faces voters in very
different parliamentary seats on Thursday and risks losing all three
contests in what would be the worst one-day mid-term result for any
British governing party in more than half a century.
The votes are one of few remaining opportunities to gauge public support
before a national election expected next year, and a chance to assess if
the opposition Labour Party can convert their run of double-digit poll
leads into victories.
Sunak, a former finance minister and investment banker, has cultivated
an image as a technocrat who can solve complex policy challenges. But he
has failed to fully shake off his party's chaotic past.
The elections are to fill seats vacated by former Prime Minister Boris
Johnson, who resigned as an MP last month after he was found to have
misled parliament over parties held in Downing Street during the
coronavirus pandemic, and an ally who resigned in solidarity.
A third vote is being held after a member of parliament quit over
allegations of sexual harassment and cocaine use.
The results of the so-called by-elections are expected to come in the
early hours of Friday.
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If Sunak loses all three votes it would suggest his party was in danger
of losing power at the next election as members of the public express
their frustrations over stubbornly high inflation, rising taxes and
economic stagnation.
The last time a governing party lost three by-elections in a single day
was in 1968.
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![](../images/072023PIX/news_v40.jpg)
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak walks
outside 10 Downing Street in London, Britain, July 19, 2023.
REUTERS/Anna Gordon
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UNFAVOURABLE VIEW
The prime minister's popularity is at the lowest level since he was
appointed in October, according to a YouGov poll published on
Wednesday. About two-thirds of voters currently have an unfavourable
view of Sunak, the poll found.
The betting odds suggest the Conservatives will lose all three
elections, even though the party won large majorities in two of them
in 2019.
The Conservatives won the constituency of Selby and Ainsty in
northern England with a majority of 20,137 at the last general
election. Labour said if it won the seat it would mark the biggest
majority the party has overturned at a by-election since World War
Two.
In Somerton and Frome in southwest England, the opposition Liberal
Democrats are hoping to overturn a Conservative majority of 19,213.
In Johnson's former seat of Uxbridge and South Ruislip on the
western fringes of London, Labour is seeking to overturn a
Conservative majority of 7,210.
Asked if the prime minister was confident of winning the three
seats, a spokeswoman for Sunak said by-elections were historically
difficult for governments, and the contest that the Conservatives
were most focused on was the general election.
(Reporting by Andrew MacAskill; Editing by Elizabeth Piper and Alex
Richardson)
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