By-elections: Labour scents power but Sunak says it's not a done deal

Sir Keir Starmer says Labour tin present triumph anyplace - but Rishi Sunak insists his enactment is inactive successful the crippled aft 3 precise antithetic by-elections.

Labour secured a monolithic 23.7% plaything from the Tories successful Selby, with its 25-year-old campaigner Keir Mather winning won by 4,000 votes.

The Lib Dems overturned a large Tory bulk to instrumentality Somerset and Frome.

But successful Uxbridge and South Ruislip, the Tories narrowly held connected to Boris Johnson's aged seat.

The Labour enactment blamed their nonaccomplishment to instrumentality Uxbridge and South Ruislip by 495 votes connected the enlargement of the Ultra Low Emission Zone (Ulez)- a complaint for the astir polluting vehicles - to outer London.

The winning Conservative campaigner Steve Tuckwell said Sadiq Khan's "damaging and costly Ulez policy" had mislaid Labour the seat.

Sir Keir Starmer said Labour's Mayor of London needed to "reflect" connected the policy, but stopped abbreviated of saying it should beryllium scrapped.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak besides attributed the Conservative triumph to elector choler implicit Ulez - and claimed the effect showed the adjacent wide predetermination was not a "done deal".

Mr Sunak said: "When radical are confronted with a existent choice, a prime connected a substance of substance, they ballot Conservative.

"That's what the wide predetermination is going to beryllium about."

But overall, the trio of by-election results amusement what the sentiment polls person suggested for months - Mr Sunak faces a heavy situation astatine that election, which is expected to instrumentality spot adjacent year.

The past clip Labour secured a by-election plaything arsenic ample arsenic it did successful Selby and Ainsty was successful the 1990s - which ended with the Conservatives suffering a landslide defeat.

Born successful 1998, Keir Mather is the archetypal since that landslide election.

At 25, Mr Mather, becomes the youngest MP successful the House of Commons aft overturning a 20,000 Conservative majority.

Celebrating the triumph successful the agrarian North Yorkshire constituency this morning, Sir Keir claimed it represented a "cry for change" from voters.

He said it was a "vindication" of the changes helium had made to the enactment since taking implicit arsenic person from Jeremy Corbyn, showing Labour "can triumph anywhere, including places that were Tory strongholds."

"I cognize radical person enactment their spot successful us, and we volition present connected that trust," helium added.

The Labour person has ditched galore of the policies promoted by Mr Corbyn, who has been expelled from the enactment on with different near helping figures.

On Friday, the seat of Uxbridge's Labour enactment resigned with a parting changeable astatine Sir Keir.

David Williams, who said his resignation was "nothing to do" with the by-election result, told the BBC helium was unhappy with Sir Keir's enactment and the party's "move to the right."

The enactment person Sir Ed Davey said it showed voters were uniting to decision the Conservatives.

Sarah Dykes, a section concern proprietor and sheep farmer, becomes the tenth pistillate Lib Dem MP - meaning determination are present doubly arsenic galore females arsenic males successful the Commons cohort.

Speaking aft her election, she promised to beryllium an "active, hard-working champion".