It’s by-election season in Westminster — and more’s at stake than simply whether Team Boris’s kamikaze mission to wound Rishi Sunak with three MP resignations will have its desired effect. After the former prime minister and his two supporters – Nigel Adams and Nadine Dorries – quit in a row over peerages, the Tories are facing the unappetising prospect of trying to keep hold of Uxbridge and South Ruislip (majority 7,210), Selby and Ainsty (20,137) and Mid Bedfordshire (24,664) should Dorries actually get round to officially handing in her notice anytime soon.
With the Tories still trailing in the polls, it’s little wonder that the opposition parties are licking their lips at the prospect. But the votes should not just offer a taste of the public mood, they will lift the lid on the two main parties’ differing approaches to candidate selection. Should Labour take all three, Parliament will welcome three Starmtroopers — loyal, well-behaved MPs picked in the image of their leader. If the Tories manage to hold even one, there’s only a reasonable chance that they will be less problematic to Sunak than the MP they replace.
