MPs say ‘out of his depth’ Tory chair Greg Hands must go and demand Rishi Sunak delivers tax cuts after ‘worst ever’ campaign saw Labour overturn massive majority to take former stronghold of Selby & Ainsty

• Tories hold Uxbridge & South Ruislip but lose two other by-election contests

MPs called for the Tory chair to go and demanded a more true-blue agenda from Rishi Sunak today after a double by-election blow.

The PM is facing mounting unrest after a grim set of ballot bow results saw the party lose two previously ultra-safe seats. 

The backlash came despite Mr Sunak seizing on the Labour’s narrow failure to take Uxbridge & South Ruislip as evidence that the next general election is ‘not a done deal’.

But Conservatives were alarmed at the sight of Keir Starmer overturning a massive majority to gain control of Selby & Ainsty, while Somerton & Frome fell to the Lib Dems.

One furious MP said the Selby campaign was the worst campaign they had ever seen, blaming bungling for 21,000 regular Tory voters opting to ‘stay at home’. They told MailOnline that party chair Greg Hands was ‘out of his depth’ and had failed to ‘take control’.

Another former minister said the by-elections were a ‘wake up call’ and Mr Sunak needed to return to the manifesto that won the 2019 general election.   

Rishi Sunak headed for Uxbridge this morning as he celebrated Tory Steve Tuckwell fending off the challenge from Labour

One furious Tory MP said party chair Greg Hands (pictured) was ‘out of his depth’ and had failed to ‘take control’

Keir Starmer (left) and Angela Rayner (right) joined new MP Keir Mather to celebrate in Selby & Ainsty today

Labour’s Keir Mather won in Selby & Ainsty to deliver another huge defeat to the Conservatives

The Conservatives clung onto Uxbridge and South Ruislip, in west London, by less than 500 votes to avert a complete by-election wipeout

But the Tory majority in Somerton and Frome crumbled as the Lib Dems won the by-election by 11,000 votes

The Tories also lost another huge majority in Selby and Ainsty as Labour gained the North Yorkshire seat by more than 4,000 votes

By-election results in full

Uxbridge and South Ruislip – Conservative HOLD

Steve Tuckwell, Tories: 13,965 votes (45.16%)

Danny Beales, Labour: 13,470 votes (43.56%)

Sarah Green, Green: 893 votes (2.89%) 

Somerton and Frome – Lib Dem GAIN from Tories

Sarah Dyke, Lib Dem: 21,187 votes (54.62%)

Faye Purbrick, Tories: 10,179 votes (26.24%)

Martin Dimery, Green: 3,944 votes (10.17%) 

Selby and Ainsty – Labour GAIN from Tories

Keir Mather, Labour: 16,456 votes (45.96%)

Claire Holmes, Tories: 12,295 votes (34.34%)

Arnold Warneken, Green: 1,838 votes (5.13%)

Sir Keir hailed a ‘ralling cry for change’ as he posed with Mr Mather at Selby Town FC this afternoon. 

The new MP, Keir Mather, is just 25 years old and has been tagged an ‘identikit Starmer’ – although ministers taunted him as something out of The Inbetweeners.

The Conservatives were also trounced by the Liberal Democrats in Somerton & Frome as their 19,000-vote margin from the last general election crumbled.

Amid mounting signs of a Lib-Lab electoral pact to boost their chances in target seats, Ed Davey’s party lost its deposit in Selby while Sir Keir’s suffered the same fate in Somerton. 

Polling guru Professor Sir John Curtice said that across the three contests the Tory vote was down 21 percentage points.  

Mr Sunak has delayed plans to hold an immediate reshuffle to try and move on from the body blows, but Tories are still deeply gloomy about their prospects when the country goes to the ballot boxes next year. 

One senior Tory told MailOnline: ‘A lot of MPs who went up said it was the worst campaign they had ever seen… It’s all people down in CCHQ who think they know better than anyone else,’ they said.

The senior MP said Mr Sunak needed to replace Mr Hands in an expected reshuffle.

‘Most people think he is out of his depth. He should have taken control of what was going on…

‘The trouble with Greg is all he’s ever been interested in is London. He’s a very good campaigner in Hammersmith. 

‘But he can’t drive a car… he’s never been interested in driving a car because he lives in London.’ 

However, the senior Conservative admitted there was no an obvious candidate for the job – after Mr Sunak struggled to fill it last time.

‘Who wants to do it is the question. There are plenty of really experience people who wouldn’t touch the job under Rishi with a bargepole,’ they said. 

Conservative MP Andrea Jenkyns said the party had been given a ‘wake-up call’. 

She urged Mr Sunak to tackle illegal migration, bring in ‘zero tolerance policing’ against Just Stop Oil, lower taxes, and ‘stop this net-zero push that just financially burdens the British taxpayer’. 

‘There is time but we must act now,’ she tweeted. 

Mr Hands conceded his party’s defeat in Selby & Ainsty was mainly driven by Conservative voters staying home.

He told GB News: ‘Clearly we’re disappointed by the result in Selby and Ainsty. We had a fantastic candidate in Claire Holmes.

‘What I would say is that result was driven largely by Conservative voters, previous Conservative voters, staying home.

‘Clearly we’ve got work to do to win back the trust and confidence, we don’t deny that.

‘Rishi Sunak has been in office now for nine months working very hard against the five priorities of halving inflation, restoring growth, reducing debt, cutting hospital waiting lists and stopping the boats. That is still work in progress.

‘We’ll be fighting hard to regain that constituency next year.’

The Tories’ new Uxbridge MP Steve Tuckwell admitted his victory was down to the unpopularity of ULEZ. Labour frontbenchers said the party must now ‘reflect’ on the policy.

Speaking at a cafe in Uxbridge, the PM said: ‘Westminster’s been acting like the next election is a done deal. The Labour Party has been acting like it’s a done deal. The people of Uxbridge just told all of them that it’s not.

‘No one expected us to win here. But Steve’s victory demonstrates that when confronted with the actual reality of the Labour Party, when there’s an actual choice on a matter of substance at stake, people vote Conservative.’

Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner said ‘there is no getting away from’ the fact that ULEZ was ‘the major issue’. She warned people ‘can’t afford’ the levy amid the cost of living crisis – but blamed the government for failing to fund a scrappage scheme. 

Lib Dem Ed Davey leader posed with his new MP Sarah Dyke in Somerton & Frome today 

Victorious Tory candidate Steve Tuckwell shakes hands with his Labour rival Danny Beales after being declared the winner of the Uxbridge and South Ruislip by-election

Sarah Dyke will be the new MP in Somerton and Frome after securing a Lib Dem by-election victory by 11,000 votes following a dramatic swing away from the Tories

‘The Uxbridge result shows that when you don’t listen to the voters, you don’t win elections,’ she said. 

Pollsters suggested the outcome has implications for swing seats near London such as Harlow and Thurrock.

After being declared the by-election winner after a recount of votes, Mr Tuckwell said: ‘This message from Uxbridge and South Ruislip residents is clear; Sadiq Khan has lost Labour this election and we know it was his damaging and costly ULEZ policy that lost them this election.’

The Tory victory in Uxbridge means Mr Sunak escapes becoming the first PM for 55 years – since Labour’s Harold Wilson in 1968 – to lose three seats at by-elections on the same day. 

But the bad results in Somerton and Selby rattled Tory MPs already worried about their chances of keeping Labour out of power at the general election, expected next year.

A Labour source pointed to Selby and Ainsty being a ‘true blue’ Tory seat near to Mr Sunak’s own constituency.

The victory was the largest Conservative majority overturned by Labour at a by-election since 1945, after the Tories won the seat with a 20,000-vote majority at the 2019 general election.

The previous record was set at the Mid Staffordshire by-election in March 1990, when Labour overturned a Tory majority of 14,654. 

The source said Labour’s win showed ‘colossal progress’ and was a ‘real disaster’ for the Tories.

They claimed a similar swing to Labour across constituencies at the general election would give them more House of Commons seats than they won under Tony Blair in 1997.

Sir Keir said: ‘This is an historic result that shows that people are looking at Labour and seeing a changed party that is focused entirely on the priorities of working people with an ambitious, practical plan to deliver.

‘Keir Mather will be a fantastic MP who will deliver the fresh start Selby and Ainsty deserves.

‘It is clear just how powerful the demand for change is. Voters put their trust in us — many for the first time.

‘After 13 years of Tory chaos, only Labour can give the country its hope, its optimism and its future back.’

In his victory speech, Mr Mather – who will now become the youngest MP in the Commons at the age of 25 – said the party had ‘rewritten the rules on where Labour can win’, adding: ‘People have opened their doors to us and embraced our positive vision for the future.’

But it was not all good news for Sir Keir following Labour’s failure to also take Uxbridge & South Ruislip off the Tories. 

Ms Rayner told BBC Breakfast her mood was ‘one of reflection’.

‘I mean, congratulations to Keir Mather in Selby because it was a historic win, but we’ve got to keep our feet on the ground and, of course, Uxbridge wasn’t the result, we narrowly lost again in that seat,’ she said.

‘I think one of the things we have to reflect on today is not only the mood against the Tories, but also the decision in Uxbridge was related to Ulez.

‘The Uxbridge result shows that when you don’t listen to the voters, you don’t win elections.’

Labour’s shadow justice secretary Steve Reed suggested Mr Khan needed to ‘reflect’ on the by-election result in Uxbridge & South Ruislip, as Labour would be doing ‘even better’ if the policy changed.

‘I think there’s been a number of issues at play, but there has certainly been a number of voters who have said to us that they are very concerned about ULEZ. Everyone wants to see clean air,’ he said.

‘But for some people, I think, given the chaos that there is in the economy, because the Conservatives have crashed it and the cost-of-living crisis that they fuelled, that this is the wrong time to introduce a charge for ULEZ.

What by-elections were happening and why?

Uxbridge & South Ruislip, West London

Triggered by the resignation of Boris Johnson after a controversial Partygate report found he deliberately misled the Commons.

Selby & Ainsty, North Yorkshire

Called following the exit of Mr Johnson’s ally Nigel Adams amid a row over not getting a peerage on the ex-PM’s honours list. 

Somerton & Frome, Somerset

Prompted by David Warburton quitting after admitting cocaine use amid allegations of sexual harassment.

‘The Mayor of London has called on the Government to fund a scrappage scheme, that means there wouldn’t be a need for charges and that’s the position that Labour’s candidate supported, as well.’

He added: ‘I think when the voters speak, any party that seeks to govern has to listen,’ he said. ‘So that’s what Labour will be doing after this.’

Susan Hall, the Tory candidate to run against Mr Khan at next year’s London mayoral election, said: ‘The message from Uxbridge and South Ruislip residents is loud and clear: Sadiq Khan and his disastrous ULEZ expansion have got to go.

‘Next May, voters can make that happen and choose a better, brighter future for our city.’

Polling expert and Tory peer Lord Hayward told MailOnline: ‘The big loser on the night is Sadiq Khan. He will get the blame, but Keir Starmer will have to answer the questions.’

He added: ‘This has implications not just for London suburbs, but there are places like Harlow and Thurrock, for all of which ULEZ is an important issue.’

Lord Hayward said combined with slightly brighter inflation figures this week Mr Sunak would be ‘much more comfortable than he expected’ going into the summer recess, but ‘still not comfortable’. 

The Lib Dem victory in Somerton and Frome is the party’s fourth by-election win since 2019 and will cause further angst among Tory MPs in ‘Blue Wall’ seats.

Sarah Dyke will now be the new MP in the Somerset constituency after securing a by-election victory by 11,000 votes following a dramatic swing away from the Tories.

She hailed her win in the Somerset seat as a ‘stunning and historic victory’.

Ms Dyke said: ‘It shows once and for all the Liberal Democrats are back in the West Country.

‘Lifelong Conservative voters have today voted Liberal Democrat for the first time.

‘Thank you for putting your trust in me to deliver for you. I will not let you down.

‘And let me say a particular thank you to all those who usually vote Labour or Green, but lent me your votes this time.

‘There’s no doubt that our electoral system is broken, but you have shown that the Conservatives can still be beaten under it.’

She added: ‘People here have been left without a voice in Parliament for far too long. That changes right now.

‘Instead of an absent Conservative MP letting you down, you have an active Liberal Democrat MP lifting you up.’

Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey said: ‘This stunning victory shows the Liberal Democrats are firmly back in the West Country.

‘Sarah Dyke will be an incredible local champion for the people of Somerset who have been neglected for far too long.

‘She will fight for stronger local health services, better access to GPs and a fair deal for rural communities during this cost of living crisis.

‘The people of Somerton and Frome have spoken for the rest of the country who are fed up with Rishi Sunak’s out-of-touch Conservative Government.’

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