13 September 2023 , 13:11
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Rishi Sunak faces a double by-election nightmare next month as voters head to the polls to replace bitter Boris Johnson ally Nadine Dorries and disgraced ex-whip Chris Pincher.
Contests will be held in Tamworth, Staffordshire, and Mid Bedfordshire on Thursday, October 19, leaving the crisis-hit Tories scrambling to defend these seats as they languish in the national polls. Ex-Tory Mr Pincher resigned earlier this month after losing an appeal against a lengthy Commons suspension for drunkenly groping two men.
The scandal brought Boris Johnson's calamitous premiership to an end as Tory MPs deserted him when it emerged he had been told about the allegations before appointing Mr Pincher as Deputy Chief Whip. Mr Pincher was kicked out by the Tories during the investigation and had been sitting as an independent MP.
He won a majority of 19,634 in the 2019 election but Tory candidate Andrew Cooper, a local councillor, will have to battle against local anger over the row. Labour came second with 10,908 votes, while the Lib Dems placed third with 2,438 supporters.
It will take place on the same day as the fierce contest in Nadine Dorries' Mid Bedfordshire constituency. The ex-Culture Secretary - and fanatical Boris Johnson supporter - decided to quit after being snubbed for a peerage. She then clung onto her seat for 12 weeks before formally resigning, in a move that infuriated her constituents.
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Both the Lib Dems and Labour are gunning for her seat, prompting fears that they could split the vote and allow the Tories back in. Labour came second in Mid Bedfordshire in 2019 but the Lib Dems have been aggressively campaigning in the seat after being emboldened by a string of by-election wins.
A third by-election is due in Rutherglen and Hamilton West on October 5 to replace ex-SNP MP Margaret Ferrier. Ms Ferrier lost a recall petition after being rapped by the Commons watchdog for breaking Covid rules by travelling across the country when she had the virus.
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