UK's Labour Party comfortably beat PM Sunak's Conservatives to retain parliamentary seat

Britain's opposition Labour Party retained a parliamentary seat in the northwest of England on Friday, comfortably winning the vote in the first electoral test for Rishi Sunak as prime minister.

Labour candidate Samantha Dixon won the City of Chester constituency, securing 61 per cent of the vote, compared to 22 per cent for the candidate from Sunak's Conservatives. Labour's outright majority rose from 10,974 to 6,194.

The scale of the defeat offers the first electoral judgment on the Conservatives after a chaotic few months, where Boris Johnson and Liz Truss were both ousted as prime minister, the latter after markets were spooked by her fiscal plans.

ALSO READ:

• Labour targets House of Lords in bid to seize the initiative from Tories

• UK budget predicted to be a nightmare before Christmas

Governing parties rarely do well in so-called by-elections, which take place outside the schedule of national elections when a lawmaker leaves their position. The next national election is expected in 2024.

Labour have held the Chester seat since 2015, when it was the most marginal seat in the country. It was held by the Conservatives between 2010-2015.

By-election defeats earlier this year in two previously Conservative-held seats led to the resignation of the party's chairman, and contributed to the pressure on Johnson.

The by-election was triggered after Labour lawmaker Christian Matheson resigned. An independent panel said he breached the parliament's sexual misconduct policy for making "unwanted and unwelcome" advances towards a junior staff member.

• World
• Europe