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UK: Conservative Party loses by-elections to Labour and Lib Dems

The UK’s ruling Conservative Party lost by-elections, with the loss of two Tory seats after ballots were cast in Wakefield, Tiverton and Honiton.

PM Boris Johnson’s leadership is now under question, as he watches the results from Rwanda, where he is attending the Commonwealth leaders summit.

Key details (BBC News)

Labour wins the Wakefield by-election in West Yorkshire, having lost the seat to the Conservatives at the 2019 general election.

The Liberal Democrats won Tiverton and Honiton in Devon, overturning a 24,000 Tory majority.

Turnout in the Wakefield by-election was 39.1%.

In Tiverton and Honiton turnout was 52.3%.

Market reaction

GBP/USD has paused its renewed upside below 1.2300 on the Tories defeat. Cable is now trading at 1.2278, up 0.14% on the day. All eyes are on the UK Retail Sales release.

Author

Dhwani Mehta

Dhwani Mehta

FXStreet

Residing in Mumbai (India), Dhwani is a Senior Analyst and Manager of the Asian session at FXStreet. She has over 10 years of experience in analyzing and covering the global financial markets, with specialization in Forex and commodities markets.

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