British PM Rishi Sunak suffers 2 big defeats in U.K. special elections

Britain's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, center, and newly elected Conservative MP Steve Tuckwell, center right, speak at the Rumbling Tum cafe in Uxbridge, after Tuckwell won the Uxbridge and South Ruislip by-election, west London, Friday July 21, 2023. (Carl Court/AP)

LONDON — Britain's governing Conservative Party suffered two thumping defeats Friday in a trio of special elections but avoided a drubbing after holding onto former premier Boris Johnson's seat in suburban London.

Though the main opposition Labour Party and the smaller centrist Liberal Democrats overturned massive Conservative majorities to win a seat apiece, the Conservatives found some crumbs of comfort in their narrow success in Uxbridge and South Ruislip in west London.