All three leading political parties are turning their attention to next year’s general election after a mixed bag of results from Thursday’s ballot box contests.
The Conservatives managed to hold former prime minister Boris Johnson’s seat of Uxbridge and South Ruislip overnight, with Rishi Sunak saying the victory showed the next national vote was “not a done deal”.
However, despite the win saving him from the embarrassment of losing three by-elections in one night, the party’s majority fell from more than 7,000 to just 495 – a swing of 6.7% to Labour – and the success was put down to the local issue of the Ultra-Low Emission Zone (ULEZ), rather than the PM’s own policy platform.
Labour has seen a row erupt in its ranks after missing out on arguably the most winnable seat of the night, with its leader Sir Keir Starmer calling on London Mayor Sadiq Khan to “reflect” on the outcome of the vote.
But having secured a surprise victory in the North Yorkshire seat of Selby and Ainsty, overturning the Tories’ huge 20,137 majority – the largest to ever be reversed at a by-election – Sir Keir said there had been “a cry for change” in the voting booths, promising his party would deliver.
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Labour’s ‘biggest ever’ win in by-election
The Liberal Democrats had their own significant win in the South West, taking the seat of Somerton and Frome, despite its previous 19,000 Tory majority.
Their leader, Sir Ed Davey, said he was “confident” his party could hold onto the seat at the general election too, claiming voters “feel the Conservatives have forgotten what it’s like to live in rural areas”.
The date of the election has not yet been set, but parliamentary rules mean the latest Mr Sunak could call it would be January 2025 – with rumours suggesting it could come as early as next spring.
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The triple by-election evening was seen by many analysts as a warm-up for the main event.
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Lib Dems: ‘Get these clowns out of No 10!’
Sky News’ political editor Beth Rigby said the results wouldn’t give the Conservatives much confidence that they were on course to avoid going under at the next general election.
With the swings of 23.7% to Labour in Selby and Ainsty and 29% swing to the Lib Dems in Somerton and Frome, the figures showed opposition parties were performing at levels matching by-election results in the dying days of Sir John Major’s government – which ended with Labour’s Sir Tony Blair winning a landslide in 1997.
Labour will need a 12% swing nationwide to gain 124 seats and win a majority at the next contest.
But Beth Rigby said there were hopes in the Tory ranks that if the PM can pin the opposition on issues of substance – such as ULEZ – there was an opportunity to create dividing lines between Labour and the Tories that give Mr Sunak a fighting chance.
For today, however, the freshly elected MPs will be focused on their own new jobs in the Commons – although they will have to wait until the end of the summer recess to take their seats.
The Tory winner of Uxbridge and South Ruislip, Steve Tuckwell, has big shoes to fill, taking over Mr Johnson’s former seat after his shock resignation last month, having been found to have mislead parliament over partygate.
But Mr Tuckwell said he was “proud” to represent the area he grew up in and the “hard work starts today”.
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By-elections: What the results mean for UK politics
Selby and Ainsty’s first Labour MP, Keir Mather, replaces outgoing Tory MP Nigel Adams – a close ally of Mr Johnson who decided to quit shortly after the former PM, giving Mr Sunak another by-election to contend with.
At 25, Mr Mather will be the youngest MP in the Commons – nicknamed “the baby of the House” – but he said it was time for “a fresh start” in the constituency.
And Sarah Dyke, the new Lib Dem MP for Somerton and Frome, replaces former Tory MP David Warburton, who stood down after admitting to taking cocaine and following accusations of sexual harassment, which he denies.
The local councillor said her victory showed her party were “back in the West Country”, and promised to her constituents: “I will not let you down.”
The man who served 14 years in jail for the murder of schoolboy Jimmy Mizen has been recalled to prison for breaching his licence conditions.
It follows reporting in The Sun newspaper that Jake Fahri, 35, was a drill rapper releasing music under the name TEN, who conceals his identity with a balaclava, and was played on BBC 1Xtra.
A Probation Service spokesperson said: “Our thoughts are with Jimmy Mizen’s family who deserve better than to see their son’s murderer shamelessly boasting about his violent crime.”
Jimmy’s father Barry told Sky News: “We’re not gloating or anything, in a way it’s quite sad.”
His son bled to death after Fahri threw an oven dish at him in a south London bakery on 10 May 2008.
The dish shattered on his chin and severed an artery in the schoolboy’s neck.
Fahri was 19 when he was given a life sentence in 2009 with a minimum term of 14 years and was released on licence in June 2023.
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His music was played on BBC 1Xtra less than 18 months later, the Sun reported, adding that DJ Theo Johnson named him an “up-and-coming star”.
Jimmy’s father earlier said he and his wife Margaret were “stunned into silence” when they were told about Fahri’s music, which often features violent themes.
In one song, which appears to reference Jimmy’s death, he raps about “sharpening” a blade.
“Judge took a look at me, before the trial even started he already knows he’s gonna throw the book at me,” the lyrics say.
Another track includes the lines: “See a man’s soul fly from his eyes and his breath gone… I wanted more, it made it less wrong. Seeing blood spilled same floor he was left on.”
The BBC has said the artist’s tracks do not feature on any BBC playlists, and that a track which appeared to reference Jimmy’s death had never been played on its channels.
A spokesman for the broadcaster added there were “no further plans to play his music”, adding: “We were not aware of his background and we in no way condone his actions.”
A Probation Service spokesperson said: “All offenders released on licence are subject to strict conditions. As this case shows, we will recall them to prison if they break the rules.”
Jimmy’s parents founded the Mizen Foundation after their son’s death. The charity helps young people in London who are escaping violence.
Mr Mizen said: “It appears that if he’s been recalled to prison, he must’ve breached his licence conditions
The man suspected of abducting Madeleine McCann won’t face any charges in the foreseeable future, a prosecutor has told Sky News.
German drifter Christian B, who cannot be fully identified under his country’s privacy law, is expected to be freed from an unrelated jail sentence this year while police in three countries continue to search for evidence against him.
Prosecutor Hans Christian Wolters said: “There is currently no prospect of an indictment in the Maddie case.
“As things stand, the accused Christian B’s imprisonment will end in early September.”
Madeleine, aged three, was asleep with her younger twin siblings in the family’s Portuguese rented holiday apartment before mother Kate discovered her missing at around 10pm on 3 May, 2007.
Her parents were dining nearby on the complex with friends and taking turns to check on all their sleeping children every half an hour.
Madeleine’s disappearance has become the world’s most mysterious missing child case.
Philipp Marquort, one of Christian B’s defence lawyers, welcomed the prosecutor’s pessimism about bringing charges.
He said: “This confirms the suspicions that we have repeatedly expressed, namely that there is no reliable evidence against our client.
“We regret that we have not yet been granted access to the investigation files. We have not yet been able to effectively counter the public prejudice arising from statements made by the prosecutor’s office.”
Christian B, 47, is in jail and coming to the end of his sentence for the rape of an elderly American woman in Praia da Luz, the Portuguese resort where Madeleine disappeared.
In October, he was acquitted on a series of rape and indecent assault charges after a non-jury trial in Germany, in which several references were made to his status as the main suspect in the Madeleine case.
The prosecutor said he was awaiting the court’s written judgment before launching an appeal against the acquittal. He believes the trial judges were biased against the prosecution.
If successful, he could apply for a new arrest warrant for Christian B to keep him in custody until a retrial with new judges.
He said: “We hope that the Federal Court of Justice will decide before the end of the accused’s imprisonment. If the Federal Court follows our legal opinion, we could apply for a new arrest warrant for the accused’s offences, so that the accused would then remain in custody beyond September 2025.
Mr Marquort said the defence team would oppose the prosecution’s appeal against the acquittal.
Prosecutor Mr Wolters has said in the past that he believes Madeleine is dead and that Christian B was responsible for her death. The suspect denies any involvement.
The case against Christian B is purely circumstantial; he’s alleged to have confessed to a friend that he abducted Madeleine, he has convictions for sex crimes against children, he was living in the area at the time, his mobile phone was close by when the young girl vanished and he re-registered one of his vehicles the next day.
The prosecutor won’t say what evidence he has to convince him Madeleine is dead, but he admitted he is still trying to find forensic evidence to link Christian B to the girl.
Jim Gamble, former head of the UK Child Exploitation and Online Protection centre, said he had expected the prosecutor to charge Christian B soon.
“He’s implied the whole way through that he has something more than the public are aware of,” he said.
“He’s made fairly definitive statements about whether Madeleine is alive or dead so you would expect their strategy to have been to charge him sooner rather than later.
“From what he’s said today I wonder if we’re witnessing the re-positioning of something to manage the disappointment that’ll come.”
Mr Wolters, who is based in Braunschweig, Lower Saxony, is investigating the case with the help of Portuguese police and detectives from Scotland Yard.
An investigation, led by the Surrey and Sussex Police Major Crime Team, is under way and inquiries remain ongoing, police said.
Senior Investigating Officer DCI Kimball Edey said specialist officers “are working around the clock to gather as much information as possible,” and that the force’s “thoughts are with the family and friends of the victims at this unbelievably difficult time”.