Britain’s governing Conservative Party has lost the first of two parliamentary elections in a new blow to its embattled leader, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, whose future has been questioned by critics within his fractious political party.
The Conservatives were defeated in Kingswood, near Bristol, by 8,675 to 11,176 votes, losing a seat that the party had previously held. Votes were cast Thursday to replace two Conservative lawmakers who had quit Parliament, with the first set of results announced early Friday morning.
With a general election expected later this year, the result is likely to compound Mr. Sunak’s difficulties at a time when the British economy is shrinking, interest rates are high, and Britain’s health service seems to be in a state of almost permanent crisis. Opinion polls show his party trailing the opposition Labour Party by double-digit margins.
The results from the second parliamentary election, in Wellingborough, are expected later on Friday morning. Turnout in both contests was low at less than 40 percent, with many people staying home rather than casting a ballot.
The gloomy mood within the Conservative Party had already deepened on Thursday, after the release of economic data showing that in the last months of 2023, Britain had officially entered a recession.
Though the latest contraction of 0.3 percent in Britain’s gross domestic product was shallow, the confirmation that the economy had shrunk and dipped into recession was nonetheless a blow to Mr. Sunak, who had made a series of pledges last year, including to spur economic growth.
In recent weeks, ministers have asserted that the economy had turned the corner, with Mr. Sunak urging Britons to “stick to the plan” he had outlined to combat inflation and revive the economy. That argument, which is likely to be a cornerstone of the Conservative Party’s election campaign, could become harder to sustain before growth returns. On Thursday, the Labour Party sought to blame Mr. Sunak directly for what it called “Rishi’s recession.”
The latest electoral setback for the Conservatives places even more pressure on Mr. Sunak after a bad week for the leader of the Labour Party, Keir Starmer, who was forced to suspend two of his parliamentary candidates over remarks they made about Israel.
Earlier this year a former cabinet minister, Simon Clarke, called on the prime minister to quit, and analysts will be watching closely to see if more Conservative lawmakers are alarmed enough about their electoral prospects to press for a change of leader.
Forcing Mr. Sunak out would be complicated, particularly since the Conservatives have already replaced two prime ministers — Boris Johnson and Liz Truss — since winning the last general election in 2019. Any new push to topple Mr. Sunak would likely increase the public clamor for a swift general election, which must take place by next January and which Mr. Sunak has promised to call in 2024.
Wellingborough in Northamptonshire had been considered one of the Conservative Party’s safest seats. But its former lawmaker, Peter Bone, was suspended from Parliament after an inquiry found he had subjected a staff member to bullying and sexual misconduct.
Mr. Bone denied the allegations against him but, following his suspension, enough voters in Wellingborough signed a petition to trigger a new election for the parliamentary seat.
The Conservative Party then selected Mr. Bone’s partner, Helen Harrison, to run to replace him.
In Kingswood, which is near Bristol, the Conservatives won the last election by 11,000 votes.
The vacancy in Kingswood was caused by the resignation of Chris Skidmore, a former energy minister who decided to leave Parliament after Mr. Sunak’s government said it would offer more licenses for the extraction of oil and gas from the North Sea. In his resignation letter, Mr. Skidmore said he was quitting “in protest at the government’s decision to prioritize and politicize new oil and gas licenses above a sensible investment plan for the future.”
Early Friday morning the victorious Labour candidate, Damien Egan, told his cheering supporters: “Our country is at a crossroads. Under the Conservatives we can choose more managed decline, more chaos more division. or we can choose a changed Labour Party, a government that will put people first.”