Polls close in double by-election battle for Tory seats

Polls have closed in two by-elections as the Conservatives attempt to hold on to their seats of Tamworth and Mid Bedfordshire.

Voters began casting their ballots at 7am, with polling stations shutting their doors at 10pm, and results are expected in the early hours of Friday morning.

Watch our Sky News by-election special on TV from midnight and follow all the updates online in the Politics Hub.

Read more: Biscuits, buttocks and shock results – why by-elections are rarely boring

While the Tamworth seat in Staffordshire is seen as a two-horse race between the Tories and Labour, the Liberal Democrats are also in the running in the more rural area of Mid Bedfordshire – though both constituencies have typically been Conservative strongholds.

All the main political parties sought to manage expectations about how they had performed as they face a nervous wait for the results.

A Tory spokesman said: “These were always going to be challenging by-elections and the rule of thumb is that governments don’t win them.

“We have seen little to no enthusiasm for Sir Keir Starmer who voters can see stands for nothing and always puts short term political gain first.”

Labour’s national campaign co-ordinator Pat McFadden said his party was “in the race for what are usually safe Tory seats”, but “we have known all along that winning these seats would be a long shot, with huge majorities to overturn”.

“The fact that we are even on the pitch is a sign of how far the Labour Party has changed,” he added.

Privately, Labour insiders were more optimistic about their chances. Two sources told our political editor Beth Rigby they were positive they might take Tamworth while also “hopeful of a good story” in Mid Bedfordshire.

For the Liberal Democrats, Cabinet Office spokeswoman Christine Jardine said that, “whatever the outcome, it is clear that the Lib Dem vote has surged in true blue villages across Bedfordshire, as former lifelong Conservative voters choose to send this government a message”.

Tamworth was left vacant after the resignation of Chris Pincher – the former Tory deputy chief whip who was suspended for eight weeks over groping allegations.

He appealed the ruling by the Commons Standards Committee, but it stood by its findings and, as a result, Mr Pincher quit rather than face a recall petition in his constituency.

The Mid Bedfordshire seat was also left empty due to a resignation, though under very different circumstances.

Former culture secretary Nadine Dorries announced her plan to stand down with “immediate effect” after the exit of her long-time ally Boris Johnson, who was found to have lied to parliament over lockdown-breaking parties – and after she discovered she had not made it into the Lords via his resignation honours list.

However, despite her statement, it took her a further 81 days to officially resign and allow a by-election to go ahead.

Click to subscribe to the Sky News Daily wherever you get your podcasts

Tamworth has been a Conservative seat since 2010, with the party winning a majority of almost 20,000 at the last election.

If Labour win it would be the largest Conservative majority overturned at a by-election since 1945 – beating the 40.7% overturned by the Lib Dems in Tiverton and Honiton in June 2022.

It would also mean the three largest Conservative majorities overturned at by-elections since 1945 all taking place in this parliament, with the Lib Dems overturning a 40.6% majority in Shropshire North in 2021.

Labour has taken Tamworth at a by-election previously, in 1996, when the constituency was called South East Staffordshire – and until the results are announced, we won’t know who will take over the seats for the rest of this parliament.

But Mid Bedfordshire has been blue since 1931, and had an even larger Tory majority of almost 25,000 back in 2019.

Labour and the Lib Dems have been throwing themselves into the campaigns, potentially making it easier for the Tories to win if the opposition vote is split.