After three Tory MPs resigned over the past 24 hours, Sunak is in for a rough few months.
Following the resignations of Boris Johnson, Nadine Dorries, and Nigel Adams, three by-elections will be held in Uxbridge & South Ruislip, Mid Bedfordshire, and Selby and Ainsty (respectively). The latter two are often seen as Tory safe seats, but with the current political climate, who knows what could happen?
Labour has decided to target Johnson’s former seat, as it had the slimmest Tory majority of the three seats up for contention, at 7,000 votes. The other two seats have majorities of over 20,000.
If the Tories lose any of the three by-elections, it could pose a major blow to Rishi Sunak’s premiership. With the local elections in 2023 already resulting in the Tories losing top spot in the local councils, the three by-elections will prove extremely important for the party’s opinions of their leader. They may serve as a chance for Sunak to redeem himself in the eyes of the Tory membership, or prove in their minds that he is not fit to lead their party and the country.
Whatever the outcome, these by-elections are going to define Britain’s political landscape for the coming election, currently scheduled for Autumn 2024.
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