Labour is deservedly basking in its byelection successes in Mid Bedfordshire and Tamworth. The 2019 general election results left the party with a mountain to climb if it were to achieve an overall majority. It needed a huge swing to reclaim many traditional marginals that had supported Tony Blair back in the day, or else make progress in constituencies that had never been Labour before, even at the peaks in 1945 and 1997. These byelection victories show that Labour can achieve both objectives.
Tamworth was a traditional bellwether that had shifted well to the right. Mid Bedfordshire was the archetypal home counties Conservative stronghold, which had been true blue since 1931.
