Tories reel from big by-election loss to Labour

LABOUR gave Rishi Sunak a bloody nose yesterday as it boosted its majority in the Chester by-election.

The Tories recorded their worst performance in the seat for 190 years and pollsters predicted Labour would win the next general election.

In the Prime Minister’s first major electoral test, Labour councillor Samantha Dixon emerged as the city’s new MP by 10,97 votes.

This was up from 6,100 in 2019, or from a 50 per cent share of the vote to 61 per cent, although the turnout, at 1.2 per cent, was far smaller.

While Labour was expected to hold the seat, the swing from the Tories of nearly 1 per cent will set alarm bells ringing in Downing Street.

It is the party’s worst showing in the City of Chester seat since 1832 and experts said it reflected national polling showing Labour on a 20 or so point lead. But pollsters also said it suggested Mr Sunak had enjoyed a ‘slight bounce’ as the gap had narrowed since Liz Truss’s disastrous premiership.

Veteran pollster Sir John Curtice said Labour ‘have not done spectacularly but they’ve done well’, adding: ‘Things are probably not as bad as the 30-point lead Labour were enjoying in the final days of the Liz Truss administration.’