Labour have made history by absolutely smashing the Tories in two by-elections – 28 top reactions

The results of the by-elections in Tamworth and Mid-Bedfordshire, caused by the political demise of Chris Pincher and Nadine Dorries, have turned out to be record-breakingly bad for the Conservatives.

Tamworth and Mid Bedfordshire by-elections 'one of worst nights any government has endured' https://t.co/ewcQUTRYKI

— BBC Look East (@BBCLookEast) October 20, 2023

There wasn’t a whole lot of sympathy.

Very VERY funny https://t.co/XxyXTXw2mk

— Mollie Goodfellow (@hansmollman) October 20, 2023

In fact, the result was so bad that Tory candidate and fan of offensive flow charts, Andrew Cooper, hotfooted it out of the hall in Tamworth like he’d suddenly remembered he’d left the chip pan on.

Over in Delusional Corner, Tory Chair Greg Hands took time out of his busy schedule of talking about a joke note written by Labour more than 13 years ago to insist that a crushing defeat didn’t mean what we all thought it meant.

Greg Hands, "The conversations I had in Mid Bedfordshire and Tamworth, people are happy with the job that Rishi Sunak is doing as Prime Minister"

Just not happy enough to turn up and vote for the Conservative party ‍♂️ pic.twitter.com/Y57ZgTLkSF

— Farrukh (@implausibleblog) October 20, 2023

These responses captured the mood.

1.

Maybe the people of Mid Bedfordshire wanted 7 bins after all…

— Marina Purkiss (@MarinaPurkiss) October 20, 2023

2.

Weird. Penny Mordant’s speech about how, if you fight, the person next to you fights, and then the person in the next town fights, and THEN… the next door country fights (without ever saying who we’re fighting) didn’t cut through in Mid Bedfordshire ‍♀️

— richard bacon (@richardpbacon) October 20, 2023

3.

If only Greg Hands had tweeted that 13-year-old joke about there being no money left a few more times. Would have made all the difference.

— James O'Brien (@mrjamesob) October 20, 2023

4.

really shocked by these by election losses for the Tories especially with Rishi Sunak fighting so hard on meat taxes and seven bin collections

— dave ❄️ (@mrdavemacleod) October 20, 2023

5.

“The message from the voters is clear: I’m living with a squatter.” #Tamworth #MidBedfordshire pic.twitter.com/BXxhEmhQhJ

— Larry the Cat (@Number10cat) October 20, 2023

6.

‘People are happy with the job Rishi Sunak is doing as Prime Minister’ pic.twitter.com/gIFiGUeSBv

— Toby Earle Threads tobyontv (@TobyonTV) October 20, 2023

7.

A very merry 'this wouldn't have had to happen if pincher could be allowed out in public without sexually assaulting people & if dorries could be arsed to do a day's work in her life' day to the Tories

— A G G G Ghost (@Scriblit) October 20, 2023

8.

We're about three more embarrassing by-election results from a Labour majority, the Tories have shit the bed THAT badly and they're pointing at their soiled sheets, saying "we did that, us!" and then wondering why people go "EWWWWWW" and won't vote for them.

— Sooz Kempner, so-called "comedian" (@SoozUK) October 20, 2023

9.

Happy Arse Handed To You On A Plate Day! #ByElections

— Moose Allain Ꙭ (@MooseAllain) October 20, 2023

10.

After losing 1,063 council seats in May & 5 out of 6 enormous by election losses

Conservative Chairman Greg Hands says
– voters admire Rishi Sunak
– it's all somebody else's fault
– it was the wrong kind of rain
– unicorns are real

Or similar

Pls let him keep his job … https://t.co/tca6X1slWU

— Carol Vorderman (@carolvorders) October 20, 2023

11.

This is a real possibility now the Tories are wiped out, Labour gain huge majority & Lib Dem’s become the Opposition #ByElections pic.twitter.com/QCSfL2I8jz

— dominic dyer (@domdyer70) October 20, 2023

12.

Really funny that he ran for a very “safe” Tory seat, briefly became known for this post alone and then lost the election https://t.co/y7YJMB6Lhc

— James Felton (@JimMFelton) October 20, 2023

13.

The Tories are cooked, toast, finito.

There’s no precedent for a government to be this far behind so close to an election and turn it around.

We should be debating what a Labour government will do, and stop wasting time indulging delusions the Tories have any chance at all.

— Owen Jones (@OwenJones84) October 20, 2023

14.

Greg Hands, who is the Chairman of a party that has been in power for the past 13 years, says their huge defeats in Tamworth and Mid Bedfordshire were due to "legacy issues" pic.twitter.com/3EIB8j8a3K

— Adam Bienkov (@AdamBienkov) October 20, 2023