Labour have won the Mid Bedfordshire byelection, overturning a huge majority and delivering a significant blow to Rishi Sunak’s hopes of holding on to power at the next general election – expected to be in 2024.
Alistair Strathern takes the parliamentary seat vacated by the former culture secretary Nadine Dorries, beating the candidate hoping to hold it for the Conservatives, Festus Akinbusoye. Strathern overturned a majority of 24,664 – believed to be the greatest such result at a byelection since at least 1945.
