Sir Keir Starmer 's party are expected to gain the Lancashire constituency to add to a string of recent by-election victories over the Tories .
Rishi Sunak is set for more misery with Labour confident of winning the Blackpool South by-election as vote counting got underway tonight.
There was even the possibility of further humilation for the Prime Minister with Reform UK not ruling out the prospect of coming ahead of the Tories. But, asked about Reform's prospects of coming ahead of the Conservatives, the source said: 'If you'd have asked me yesterday, I'd have said no chance. Now I'm not 100 per cent certain.'
Blackpool South has been held by the Tories for 57 of the 78 years it has existed as a parliamentary constituency.The Northern Ireland Secretary said it was 'going to be a tough seat for us to hold' given the scandal which led to it. A Labour victory would be a seventh by-election loss for the Tories against Sir Keir's party while Mr Sunak has been PM.
The contest was prompted by the resignation of former Tory MP Scott Benton from the Commons after he was caught up in a lobbying sting Mr Benton was suspended by the Tories in April last year after being caught up in a fresh Westminster lobbying row. In February, MPs approved a motion to suspend Mr Benton for 35 days after he was found to have breached Commons rules.
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