Labour picking up support of lifelong Tory voters in Selby by-election, Lisa Nandy claims

Labour is planning to win one of this week’s crunch by-elections with the support of lifelong Conservative voters who have turned away from the party, Lisa Nandy has told i.

The shadow Levelling Up Secretary, who has been campaigning in Selby and Ainsty, said that if Labour can take the seat on Thursday it will show the party is well on course for victory in next year’s general election.

The constituency in North Yorkshire is one of three Tory-held constituencies being contested in a by-election after its MP, Boris Johnson supporter Nigel Adams, quit Parliament last month.

Rishi Sunak is braced for a triple defeat, claiming it is “difficult” for sitting governments to hold on to their own seats in by-elections.

The Conservatives had a majority of 20,000 in Selby at the last general election, taking more than 60 per cent of the vote.

But Ms Nandy said Labour was “confident but not complacent” about taking the seat, adding: “There is no question that there are people who are voting Labour for the first time in this by-election, not just the first time in their own lifetime but the first time in their family history.

“If you had told me three years ago that we would be looking at a 20,000 majority and saying to you it’s neck and neck in a seat we’ve never held, I wouldn’t have believed it.”

She claimed dissatisfaction with the Government was being driven by economic concerns, saying: “I think there’s a real sense here that things are pretty tough now, not just for some people but for most people.”

The shadow minister said that a victory for Labour could be a prelude to a general election win . She told i: “To win here we would need a significantly larger swing than we would need to win a majority at the next general election.”

But Ms Nandy added that Labour needed to “to be clear that when we make promises, we will and we can deliver them” – following a row over whether Sir Keir Starmer is being insufficiently radical.

Selby was held by Labour between 1997 and 2010 but its boundaries were then changed to include more rural areas and exclude suburban districts, making it more favourable to the Conservatives.

The Prime Minister on Monday appeared to lay the ground for a defeat in Selby as well as Uxbridge and South Ruislip and Somerton and Frome, the other two seats up for grabs on Thursday. He told ITV: “Midterm by-elections for incumbent governments are always difficult, I don’t expect these to be any different from that.”

But Mr Sunak added: “I passionately believe that my priorities are the country’s priorities… I know that everyone would like to see progress on those things quicker, as would I. But I want to be honest with people about the challenges, that’s what I’m always going to do in this job. But also they should be reassured that I am working day and night to deliver on them.”