Rishi Sunak has insisted the Conservatives could still win the next general election, despite a grim night for his party in three by-elections.

The Prime Minister was in Uxbridge and South Ruislip, the only constituency the Tories managed to hold on to, though with a much-reduced majority. 

In Selby and Ainsty, Labour overturned a 20,000-vote majority, while the Lib Dems took Somerton and Frome, winning with a majority of 11,008. 

READ MORE: Byelection results: Thumping defeats for Sunak’s Tories in two seats

Mr Sunak and the victorious Tory candidate Steve Tuckwell arrived at the Rumbling Tum cafe early on Friday morning. 

“Are you all pumped?” the Prime Minister asked one group of Tory campaigners.

“Normally when I get woken up at three in the morning it’s only bad news. So, it was a welcome change," he joked. 

Mr Tuckwell won with a majority of just 495, down from the 7,210 Boris Johnson won in 2019.

The new MP put his victory down to Labour Mayor of London Sadiq Khan's planned extension of the Ultra Low Emission Zone (Ulez) scheme to the capital’s suburbs 

Speaking to press, Mr Sunak 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.”

“By-elections, midterms for an incumbent government, are always difficult. They rarely win them.

“The message I take away is that we’ve got to double down, stick to our plan and deliver for people. That’s what I heard when I was out on the doorsteps and that’s what we’re going to do.

“We’re going to work incredibly hard to deliver on our five priorities and earn people’s trust for the next election.”

Mr Sunak conceded the circumstances of the by-elections were “far from favourable”.

“It’s a reminder to politicians that we need to focus on what matters to people and not be distracted by what’s going on in Westminster.”

“We’re getting on and delivering for people and that’s what I’m going to do all the way to the next election,” he added.

Labour's deputy leader, Angela Rayner accepted that Ulez had cost them victory in Mr Johnson’s former seat.

 

She told BBC Breakfast: “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.”

However, the London mayor was standing by the scheme.

A source close to Mr Khan said: “Winning Uxbridge and South Ruislip was always going to be a struggle for Labour.

“Sadiq has always been clear that expanding the Ulez was a really difficult decision, but necessary to save the lives of young and vulnerable Londoners.”

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Earlier in the day, Greg Hands, the Conservative chair, said the party's defeat in the two other by-elections was “driven largely by Conservative voters – previous Conservative voters – staying home”.

“We’re obviously going to listen to people, we’re going to look at some of the reasons why,” he said. “But equally by-elections are not always a good predictor of general elections.

However, the polling expert Professor Sir John Curtice, speaking on the same programme, said Hands was being unrealistic, and that the results showed the Conservatives were “in as deep an electoral hole as polling suggests”.