LONDON, July 21 (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's governing Conservatives lost two strategically important parliamentary seats on Friday but unexpectedly retained former leader Boris Johnson's old constituency in a setback for the opposition Labour Party.
The Conservatives' narrow victory in Uxbridge and South Ruislip gave Sunak some breathing space to try to narrow Labour's large lead in the polls by tackling inflation and a cost-of-living crisis before a national vote expected next year.
Sunak said the win showed that upcoming election was not a "done deal". In a cafe in the constituency, he told reporters: "The message I take away is that we have to double down, stick to our plan and deliver for people."
But the scale of the challenge was highlighted by the loss of the once safe Conservative parliamentary seat of Selby and Ainsty in northern England, where Labour overturned the biggest Conservative majority at a by-election since World War Two.
"This is a big step forward towards the general election. Never before in our history have we done this," Labour leader Keir Starmer told reporters in Selby.
The Conservatives also suffered a crushing loss in a third vote to the centrist Liberal Democrats in Somerton and Frome.
But the retention of former prime minister Johnson's seat just outside central London by fewer than 500 votes ensured Sunak avoided becoming the first British leader to lose three by-elections on a single day in more than half a century.
Sunak, a former finance minister and investment banker, has tried to use his technocratic leadership to restore the Conservatives' credibility after a series of scandals last year forced Johnson to resign as prime minister, and economic turmoil prompted his successor, Liz Truss, to quit after just six weeks.
He is expected to reshuffle his senior ministers soon to pick his team to fight the next election.
With stubbornly high inflation, economic stagnation, rising mortgage rates, industrial unrest and long waiting times to use the state-run health service, the Conservatives had been braced for the possibility of losing all three seats.
NATIONAL ELECTION LOOMS
In national opinion polls, Sunak's Conservatives are trailing Labour by about 20 points, making it difficult to win a fifth consecutive national election. But Labour could struggle to secure a clear parliamentary majority.
John Curtice, Britain's best-known pollster, said the Uxbridge result suggested the most likely outcome of a national vote was a hung parliament and Starmer might see more debate within the party about his safety first approach.
Curtice told the BBC that the Conservatives had an "awful long way to go" and both leaders had "been left with something to think about in the wake of these results".
Starmer has been criticised by some in his party for sticking to a disciplined stance on public finances, refusing to make any unbudgeted offerings and sometimes dropping policies he believes a Labour government could not afford.
The Uxbridge by-election followed Johnson's shock decision to quit parliament last month after he was found to have made misleading statements over parties held at his Downing Street office during the coronavirus pandemic. Johnson denied misleading parliament.
The winning Conservative candidate, Steve Tuckwell, pointed to local rather than national factors, largely the issue of London’s Labour mayor extending the ultra-low emission zone (ULEZ) meaning some Uxbridge voters had to pay more for cars.
One Conservative lawmaker said the opposition to ULEZ was a winner for the party and could help its candidate in the London mayoral election in May.
Labour won Selby and Ainsty by 4,000 votes with the Conservatives unable to defend a majority of 20,137 in a vote triggered when a Johnson ally resigned in solidarity with him.
In Somerton and Frome in southwest England, the Liberal Democrats overturned a Conservative majority of 19,213 after a another lawmaker quit over allegations of sexual harassment and cocaine use.
