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 vote

Reform UK voter support highlights threat to Rishi Sunak’s right flank

Keir Starmer and big business, a love story

UK’s ‘technical’ recession is politically toxic for Rishi Sunak

Keir Starmer under growing pressure to overhaul vetting of potential Labour MPs

Why Nato members are sounding the alarm on Russia’s aggressive posture

Sketchy Politics: the rules of the electoral race

Follow Lucy @LOS_Fisher, George @GeorgeWParker, Rafe @rafeuddin

Clip: Sky News

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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

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