George Osborne has said losing both the Mid Bedfordshire and Tamworth by-elections was “armageddon’ for the Conservative Party.
Labour won two huge victories on Thursday, in the latest sign Keir Starmer is on course to win the next general election.
“Losing both the Tamworth and Mid Beds by-elections is a political earthquake and could mean armageddon for the Tories,” Osborne said.
Speaking on his Political Currency podcast which was recorded as voting was underway on Thursday, the former Tory chancellor said losing both seats would be “disastrous”.
“The Conservatives will think Tamworth was hard and the MP resigned under a cloud.
“It’s the kind of seat in the 1980s and early 1990s that Tory governments did lose and still won general elections.
But he added: “If they have also lost Mid Bedfordshire armageddon is coming for the Tory party.”
In Mid Bedfordshire - Nadine Dorries’ former seat - Alistair Strathern overturned a majority of 24,664 to become the constituency’s first ever Labour MP. It is the biggest majority to be overturned since 1945.
And in Tamworth - previously held by Chris Pincher - the 19,634 Tory majority crumbled to see Sarah Edwards elected on the back of a 24% swing to Labour. The seat was last won by the party in 2005.
Starmer said of the wins: “These are phenomenal results that show Labour is back in the service of working people and redrawing the political map.”