TORY MP Andrew Bowie has claimed by-election defeats in Tamworth and Mid-Bedfordshire were “not gigantic” as he blamed the results on people staying at home.
In a jaw-dropping assessment of what was undoubtedly a torrid night for the Tories, the West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine MP insisted people “are supportive of what we’re doing but just were not prepared to come out and vote for us”.
Labour overturned huge Conservative majorities to take both seats, with Tamworth experiencing the second-biggest swing since the Second World War.
Mid-Bedfordshire, a seat previously held by Nadine Dorries, is a seat the Tories have held comfortably for 90 years where they had a majority of 24,000.
But Bowie was in total denial when interviewed on Sky News that the party needed to change and insisted people were just “reserving judgment” on who to vote for in the next General Election.
Do the Tories need to change after two byelection defeats? No, says this minister….
— Sam Coates Sky (@SamCoatesSky) October 20, 2023
Do watch our discussion: pic.twitter.com/aQTJMKZ0Hp
He said: “We’ve got to take notice and listen to what voters are telling us but what’s been quite clear on the doorsteps is that people do agree with our priorities, but they are reserving judgement when it comes to who they are going to vote for in the next General Election.”
“They weren’t gigantic by-election defeats, I think both were in the region of 2000 votes between the Conservative and Labour party.”
When Bowie was then presented with a graph showing just how seismic the shift was in both areas given their history, he remained adamant the party was not failing.
READ MORE: Desperate search underway for man trapped in vehicle in Aberdeenshire
He went on: “There was a reduction in the number of votes cast for Labour in Mid Bedfordshire and they only added 800 in Tamworth. There is no groundswell of support for the Labour Party.
“What that tells me [gesturing towards the graph] is that people are supportive of what we’re doing but they were just were not prepared to come out and vote for us.
“We know throughout history, by-elections have been an opportunity for people to cats a protest vote or not engage in the process. I’m quite sure that’s what happened today.”
Alistair Strathern took Mid-Bedfordshire with a majority of 1192 over his Tory rival Festus Akinbusoye, with a swing of 20.5 percentage points to Labour.
In Tamworth, Labour’s Sarah Edwards defeated Tory Andrew Cooper by a majority of 1316.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel