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Greg Hands has said he will not resign as Conservative Party chair despite the government suffering another two by-election defeats in safe Tory seats.

Mr Hands said the results in Tamworth and Mid Bedfordshire – where the Labour Party overturned substantial Tory majorities – were “clearly disappointing”, but blamed low turnout among traditional Conservative voters.

He sought to deflect blame away from Rishi Sunak, saying the defeats – which came on the back of two by-election losses in July – were the result of “legacy issues” that pre-dated Mr Sunak’s time in office.

Asked whether he would consider his position as party chair in light of the defeats, Mr Hands replied: “No.”

Mr Hands, who was appointed Tory party chair in February, said “clearly there’s unhappiness with the Conservative Party” as he admitted the party needed to “reflect” on why its voters did not go to the polls.

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“I might say that the big problem we have is still Conservative voters staying at home,” Mr Hands told Sky News.

“The Labour vote hardly went up at all, in fact it went down slightly in Mid Bedfordshire, no breakthrough for the Liberal Democrats.

“But clearly disappointing for us and we’ll have to reflect on the fact that a large number of Conservative voters stayed at home.”

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Double by-election defeat for Tories

However, he said the Tories will be “very hopeful of regaining those two seats” at the next election.

Mr Hands’s decision to stay in post comes in contrast to his predecessor, Oliver Dowden, who quit as party chair following two by-election defeats in Tiverton and Honiton and Wakefield last year.

The Labour Party is celebrating after it claimed two by-election victories in Tamworth, Staffordshire, and in Mid Bedfordshire.

The by-elections had been called following the resignations of the previous MPs Chris Pincher and Nadine Dorries.

Mr Pincher resigned in September after he lost an appeal against an eight-week suspension from the Commons following the groping allegations that precipitated the downfall of Boris Johnson as prime minister.

Former cabinet minister Ms Dorries officially resigned in August – 81 days after she announced she would quit the Commons with “immediate effect”.

In Tamworth, the Conservatives were defending a 19,600 majority, but a 23.9 percentage point swing to Labour saw that eradicated.

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‘Country is so desperate for change’

The historic result, declared shortly before 3am, was the second-highest-ever by-election swing to Labour.

Mid Bedfordshire saw the largest numeric Tory majority ever overturned by Labour at a by-election since 1945.

The Conservatives have held the rural seat since 1931, winning with a 24,664 majority in 2019.

Mr Hands stressed there were “very specific circumstances” surrounding the by-elections in Tamworth and Mid Bedfordshire and that he believed they were not a “good indicator” of how the general election will turn out.

The party’s defeats have been criticised by its own MPs, with Dame Andrea Jenkyns saying the Tories needed to make “far-reaching major changes now”.

Read more:
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Writing on social media, Dame Andrea said: “Voter apathy is evident yet again in both the #ByElections, low turnout -20k failed to turnout in Tamworth, 24k failed to turnout in Mid Beds since the last election.

“We need to make far-reaching major changes now to instil confidence in the Conservative voters.”

David Frost, the UK’s former chief Brexit negotiator, said the results were “extremely bad for my party”.

“I don’t think it helps to suggest otherwise, as some party figures have done this morning,” he posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.

“The current national polls are dreadful for us but these results are even worse.

“Yes, things are different at by-elections and there were probably special factors. But these results show that the national polls are broadly correct and that a strategy of denial is unlikely to work.”

But Labour’s national campaign co-ordinator Pat McFadden said the results overnight were “not normal” for the Tories.

“These were not constituencies that were even on our target list, so really big, important results, indicating change in politics,” he told Sky News.

“We’re absolutely delighted with our victories last night but of course conscious as well that we’ve still got a lot of work to do between now and a general election.”

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Jingye and Whitehall officials hold talks over British Steel future

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Jingye and Whitehall officials hold talks over British Steel future

The Chinese owner of British Steel has held fresh talks with government officials in a bid to break the impasse over ministers’ determination not to compensate it for seizing control of the company.

Sky News has learnt that executives from Jingye Group met senior civil servants from the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) late last week to discuss ways to resolve the standoff.

Whitehall sources said the talks had been cordial, but that no meaningful progress had been made towards a resolution.

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Jingye wants the government to agree to pay it hundreds of millions of pounds for taking control of British Steel in April – a move triggered by the Chinese group’s preparations for the permanent closure of its blast furnaces in Scunthorpe.

Such a move would have cost thousands of jobs and ended Britain’s centuries-old ability to produce virgin steel.

Jingye had been in talks for months to seek £1bn in state aid to facilitate the Scunthorpe plant’s transition to greener steelmaking, but was offered just half that sum by ministers.

More on British Steel

British Steel has not yet been formally nationalised, although that remains a probable outcome.

Jonathan Reynolds, the business secretary, has previously dismissed the idea of compensating Jingye, saying British Steel’s equity was essentially worthless.

Last month, he met his Chinese counterpart, where the issue of British Steel was discussed between the two governments in person for the first time.

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Inside the UK’s last blast furnaces

Jingye has hired the leading City law firm Linklaters to explore the recovery of hundreds of millions of pounds it invested in the Scunthorpe-based company before the government seized control of it.

News of last week’s meeting comes as British steelmakers face an anxious wait to learn whether their exports to the US face swingeing tariffs as part of US President Donald Trump’s trade war.

Sky News’s economics and data editor, Ed Conway, revealed this week that the UK would miss a White House-imposed deadline to agree a trade deal on steel and aluminium this week.

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Jingye declined to comment, while a spokesman for the Department for Business and Trade said: “We acted quickly to ensure the continued operations of the blast furnaces but recognise that securing British Steel’s long-term future requires private sector investment.

“We have not nationalised British Steel and are working closely with Jingye on options for the future, and we will continue work on determining the best long-term sustainable future for the site.”

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Ethereum corporate treasuries critical for the ecosystem: Joseph Lubin

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Ethereum corporate treasuries critical for the ecosystem: Joseph Lubin

Ethereum corporate treasuries critical for the ecosystem: Joseph Lubin

Ethereum co-founder Joseph Lubin said that corporate ETH treasuries are vital for driving ecosystem growth.

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South Korea plans to lift crypto venture business restrictions

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South Korea plans to lift crypto venture business restrictions

South Korea plans to lift crypto venture business restrictions

South Korea may lift restrictions on crypto firms, allowing them venture status and access to tax breaks, funding and regulatory benefits.

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