Tories reel from by-election blows

The Conservatives suffer a double blow, losing two safe seats to Labour, amid growing signs that Rishi Sunak’s party is losing votes to the populist Reform UK party. The FT’s Lucy Fisher is joined by political editor George Parker and the FT’s Rafe Uddin to discuss the by-election results in detail, along with elections guru Professor Sir John Curtice. Plus, Lucy sits down with the FT’s foreign editor Alec Russell in a week when foreign secretary David Cameron faced sharp criticism from right-wing US politicians for intervening in the row in Congress over aid for Ukraine. Free links:Tories reel as Labour wins two by-elections and Reform UK gains more than 10% of the voteReform UK voter support highlights threat to Rishi Sunak’s right flankKeir Starmer and big business, a love storyUK’s ‘technical’ recession is politically toxic for Rishi SunakKeir Starmer under growing pressure to overhaul vetting of potential Labour MPsWhy Nato members are sounding the alarm on Russia’s aggressive postureSketchy Politics: the rules of the electoral raceFollow Lucy @LOS_Fisher, George @GeorgeWParker, Rafe @rafeuddinClip: Sky NewsSign up here for 30 free days of Stephen Bush's award-winning Inside Politics newsletter.Presented by Lucy Fisher. Produced by Audrey Tinline. The executive producer is Manuela Saragosa. Original music and audio mix by Breen Turner. The FT’s head of audio is Cheryl Brumley. Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.