A man adjusts a polling station sign at Saint Martin Church in Womersley, part of the Selby and Ainsty constituency in North Yorkshire (Picture: PA)
The polls have opened in three crunch by-elections that could spell disaster for Rishi Sunak and the Conservative Party.
Labour hopes to snatch Uxbridge and South Ruislip, which was Boris Johnson’s seat in west London until he quit, and Selby and Ainsty in North Yorkshire – vacated by his ally Nigel Adams’ resignation.
The Liberal Democrats are hoping for victory in Somerton and Frome, following the resignation of David Warburton after he admitted using cocaine amid allegations of sexual harassment.
If the Tories lose all of them it would be the first time in 55 years a government has been defeated in three by-elections on the same day.
Last night, the Prime Minister told Tory MPs at a meeting of the 1922 Committee they face a ‘tough battle’ for the previously safe seats.
‘In the coming months, I am going to set out more of what I would do if I had a full term,’ Mr Sunak was understood to have said.
‘I was recently described as a full spectrum modern Conservative and you are going to see that in the programme I lay out.’
Mr Sunak pledged to show the public ‘who is really on their side’, adding: ‘And that is what will propel us to victory.’
Tory backbencher Jonathan Gullis told reporters outside the meeting the problem is ‘apathetic Conservative voters’ rather than support for Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer.
Voters are heading to the polls across the country today (Picture: Getty)
During a visit to Warwickshire, Mr Sunak was asked if he would spring a Cabinet reshuffle on Friday in an attempt to reset his premiership.
‘You would never expect me to comment on things like that,’ he said, in what was clearly not a denial.
Mr Johnson held Uxbridge with a 7,000 majority when he was prime minister at the last general election in 2019.
Mr Adams secured Selby with a 20,000 majority that night, a similar margin to Mr Warburton’s victory in his Somerset seat.
Rishi Sunak meets Chairman of the Board at Tata after they announced a new electric car battery factory (Picture: AFP)
Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey said: ‘Today voters across Somerton and Frome have a chance to send a clear message to the Conservatives that they have failed our country on the NHS, the cost-of-living crisis and protecting our rural communities.
‘If the Liberal Democrats succeed in overturning this massive 19,000 Conservative majority, it will show voters in Somerset are fed up with being taken for granted by Rishi Sunak and his failing government.’
Sir Keir’s spokesman downplayed Labour’s chances, saying Uxbridge was not won even during the 1997 landslide victory, and Selby would require the party’s best by-election result since the Second World War.
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The polls have opened in three by-elections that could spell disaster for Rishi Sunak and the Conservative Party.
