The Conservatives have suffered a wave of Council by-election losses, including in Kemi Badenoch’s constituency, as well as those of front-bench MPs Robert Jenrick and Mel Stride, prompting Reform to brand the results a “disaster” for the party. In a string of local contests this week, the party failed to win seats in three areas, losing out to Reform and the Liberal Democrats.
In Ms Badenoch’s constituency, the Conservatives slipped into third place in a parish council race, where the seat had previously been held by an independent. And in Mr Jenrick’s Newark constituency, Reform won two local seats, both previously held by independents. One was a close fight, with just 11 votes separating the Reform candidate and the Conservative runner-up.
A spokesman for Reform said: “In case the remaining Tories had any hope that a change of leader would change the polls, last night’s double Reform win in Newark has stifled that hope once had in Jenrick. For Kemi’s Tories to come third in her own constituency is worse than embarrassing, it’s a disaster.”
Over in Mel Strides Devon seat, the Conservatives also failed to make gains, losing out to the Liberal Democrats who took control of two seats previously held by a Green councillor and an independent.
The Liberal Democrats said that “the only sum Mel Stride needs to do now is how long he has until he’s out of a job. Liberal Democrats have scored a hat trick and are gaining Mel-mentum in the Shadow Chancellor’s backyard.”
A spokesman for the party claimed that the “crumbling remains of the Blue Wall are on notice”, added that “Former Conservative voters feel abandoned by Kemi Badenoch’s lurch to the right, mimicking Farage instead of standing up for true British values.”
The Conservative Party did not comment.
None of the seats had previously been held by the Conservatives. However the results come after months of Reform storming ahead in the opinion polls, with the Tories frequently languishing in fourth place.
In the local elections earlier this year, the Conservatives had a disastrous set of results which saw the party lose control of 16 councils as some 674 councillors lost their seats.
