Rishi Sunak was told he must cut taxes to win back disenchanted voters after a double by-election drubbing.
Tory MPs said income tax must be reduced in the budget next month as new research found governments that reduce the burden win at the ballot box.
The Prime Minister admitted there is “work to do” after a difficult night when Labour snatched two seats from the Conservatives.
He said: “Midterm elections are always difficult for incumbent governments, and the circumstances of these elections were of course particularly challenging.
“Now, I think if you look at the results, very low turnout, and it shows that we’ve got work to do to show people that we are delivering on their priorities and that’s what I’m absolutely determined to do, but also shows that there isn’t a huge amount of enthusiasm for the alternative in Keir Starmer and the Labour Party, and that’s because they don’t have a plan.”
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak admits there is more work to do after double defeat (Image: Getty)
Mr Sunak added: “And if you don’t have a plan, you can’t deliver real change.
“And when the general election comes, that’s the message I’ll be making to the country. Stick with our plan, because it is starting to deliver the change that the country wants and needs.”
Labour overturned a majority of 11,220 in Kingswood and 18,540 in Wellingborough, thanking the number of by-election defeats of the current Parliament to ten.
Reform scored 13% in the heavily pro-Leave constituency of Wellingborough and 10% in Kingswood.
Mr Sunak said a vote for anyone other than the Conservatives is a vote for Labour.
“A vote for anyone who isn’t the Conservative candidate, whether that’s Reform or anyone else, is just a vote to put Keir Starmer in power.
“That’s the actual choice at the general election, between me and him, between the Conservatives and Labour.
“Now I believe our plan is working. At the start of this year we’re heading in the right direction, taxes are coming down, inflation is falling, and if we stick with that plan we can deliver everyone a brighter future.”
Labour’s Gen Kitchen won the Wellingborough by-election with 45.8% of the vote (Image: Getty)
Stagnating growth means Chancellor Jeremy Hunt is unlikely to be able to cut income tax by the two per cent as hoped.
A penny off national insurance, as revealed by the Daily Express earlier this month, is still being considered.
But rebel Tories said the results showed it is time to be radical on tax..
MPs Danny Kruger and Miriam Cates, co-chairs of the New Conservatives, said: “The results in yesterday’s by-elections are unequivocal: Labour are winning because many of the people who backed us in 2019 are staying at home or voting Reform.”
They called for help for working families including lowering the rate of income tax and an increase to the “punitive thresholds” that trigger the higher 40p rate.
New Conservatives founder Miriam Cates wants tax cuts (Image: Getty)
Analysis by the Taxpayers’ Alliance of taxation policy and election results over the last 50 years found a clear link between lower levies and ballot box victories.
Prime ministers that lost elections raised the tax burden by an average of 0.2% of national income compared to the previous election year and 1.1% on the previous 12 months.
By contrast, on average governments that won cut the burden compared to the previous election year by 0.01% and 0.5% compared to the previous year.
All election-losing governments raised the tax burden in the year of the campaign.
Elliot Keck, head of campaigns at the Taxpayers’ Alliance, said: “Looking at the last 50 years, a clear pattern can be seen: when governments raise taxes, they often lose. And when they cut taxes, they almost always win.”
A Treasury source said: “After delivering the single biggest tax cutting fiscal event since 1988 last autumn, we want to continue lowering taxes to reward work and grow the economy, but only if it’s affordable and responsible to do so.”
- Support fearless journalism
- Read The Daily Express online, advert free
- Get super-fast page loading
Labour’s Gen Kitchen secured Wellingborough with 45.8% of the vote in a by-election triggered when former Tory MP Peter Bone was found to have subjected a staff member to bullying and sexual misconduct.
The party’s Damien Egan won Kingswood with 44.9% of the vote after former Conservative MP Chris Skidmore resigned in protest at Government legislation to boost North Sea oil and gas drilling.
Both votes suffered with low turnout at under 40 per cent.
Sir Keir insisted Labour has seen “Tory switchers” making up part of its vote share.
He said: “The progress we’ve now made (is) from the worst results since 1935 to being now credible contenders – and that is all we are – for the 2024 election.
“We’re trying to do, if you like, what Kinnock, what Smith and Blair did, over 13 or 14 years, in four short years.”
He added: “I think there is a message now from these by-elections… I think the country is crying out for change. Everybody knows that.”
Pollster Sir John Curtice said the Conservatives “badly need to show they can start to climb the electoral mountain”.
“One has to say one would normally have expected a governing party, what are we now, maybe a little more than nine months away from the general election, to be fighting by-elections like this as hard as they could,” he said.
