The UK's ruling Conservative Party loses two out of three by-elections as support for the main opposition Labour Party soars ahead of the 2024 general election.
Thursday was a bad day for the UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak although not as bad as some people had predicted.
Many thought his ruling Conservative Party would lose former PM Boris Johnson's old seat of Uxbridge and South Ruislip on the outskirts of London.
That didn't happen but it was a close contest for a constituency regarded as a 'safe' Tory seat. In the end, there was a 6.7% swing to Labour but the Conservatives won it by 495 votes.
However, elsewhere the ruling party was heavily defeated.