The turnout in the Uxbridge and South Ruislip by-election was 46.23%, PA reports. Lib Dems claim they have won Somerton and Frome byelection The Liberal Democrats have claimed they have won the Somerton and Frome byelection. The official result is not expected to be declared for a few hours yet. A Lib Dem spokesman said: “We’ve not just won, we’ve romped home in Somerton and Frome. “The Conservative vote is in free-fall.” Bill Esterton, Labour MP for Sefton Central in Merseyside, also reports a positive response on the doorstep in Selby today, though stops short of predicting a Tory defeat. He tweeted: “I met a number of lifelong Tory voters who were voting Labour in Selby today. Whether that’s enough for us to win, I don’t know, but it points to a close result in a constituency that we’ve not won before. Good luck @Mather_Keir.” A confident tweet from Lib Dem leader Ed Davey. Davey had launched the party’s election campaign by riding in a tractor in Berkhamsted as it smashed down a stack of Tory blue hay bales. Labour chair Anneliese Dodds played down expectations after the polls closed, calling them “incredibly challenging elections” for the party. She told BBC Newsnight: “Whatever the result one thing is very clear, and it’s been clear to me when I’ve been speaking with people on the doorstep, that there will be people in this election who will be voting Labour for the first time. “They can see that Keir Starmer has turned the Labour Party around, that the Labour party is in the service of working people. “And I think that will definitely be the case whatever the eventual result from these byelections.” Liberal Democrat MP Christine Jardine said her party was “quietly confident” about victory in Somerton and Frome. The party is tipped for victory in the byelection and Jardine told BBC Newsnight that success would be “huge”. “I don’t want to go counting any chickens too early, but we are confident tonight,” she said. “We’ve had a very positive response on the doors and I think I would say quietly confident, though we’re not being too quiet about it. “We are confident that we’re going to see a result in our favour tonight.” In an email to Lib Dem supporters, the party’s leader, Sir Ed Davey, said of Somerton and Frome: “We’re on for another historic result.” He added: “I’m confident we will win big tonight.” I’m reporting from Selby, where Labour MPs think they may just pull off a victory for the ages by overturning the Conservatives’ 20,137 majority. Kate Osborne, the MP for Jarrow in the north-east, was out campaigning today and told me: “It was really positive on the doorstep. “I didn’t speak to a single person who said they were voting Conservative but spoke to many who were turning to Labour for the first time and one who hadn’t voted Labour for 20+ years. “I asked if it was local or national issues that were influencing their vote and nearly all said both and that they were fed up with a government that weren’t listening and didn’t care. So I’m hopeful we will take it.” The Lib Dem MP Christine Jardine said: “If we succeed in overturning the huge 19,000 majority in Somerton and Frome, in what should be a safe Conservative seat, it would mark a watershed moment for the Liberal Democrats. “It would prove yet again that in vast swathes of the country, from Somerset to Surrey, the best way to get rid of this Conservative government is to vote for the Liberal Democrats.” A Labour party spokesperson said: “It’s going to be some time before we get any results. But what we do know is that none of these seats have ever had a Labour MP before, so they were always going to be a challenge. “We didn’t even win Uxbridge in 1997 and to win Selby and Ainsty would require us to overturn the biggest majority in our history. “So while we don’t know if we’ve made it over the line, it’s clear that Keir Starmer’s leadership of a changed Labour party, back in the service of working people, has seen voters put their trust in us – many for the first time.” A Conservative party spokesperson said: “There’s no doubt that this was always going to be a very challenging set of byelections, especially given the circumstances in which they were brought about. “We have to wait for the results to come in, but byelections are rarely won by governing parties and they are rarely good indicators of general election performance. “Across all of these campaigns we have heard zero enthusiasm for Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour party and their lack of answers. “We now need to redouble our efforts earning back the trust of voters by delivering on our plan to halve inflation, grow the economy, reduce debt, cut waiting lists and stop the boats.” The prime minister has acknowledged that holding the three seats, including Boris Johnson’s former constituency, will be a “tough battle”. For Labour, winning the Uxbridge and South Ruislip seat vacated by Johnson and the Selby and Ainsty constituency formerly held by his ally Nigel Adams would be a major boost for Sir Keir Starmer. In Somerton and Frome, in a contest triggered by the resignation of scandal-hit David Warburton, the Liberal Democrats hope to add to a series of eye-catching recent byelection victories. While Johnson only held his seat with a majority of 7,210 as he led the party to a national landslide in 2019, the Tories had a cushion of around 20,000 votes in the other two constituencies, so losses would increase Tory pressure on Sunak. The prime minister could attempt to reset his administration with a cabinet reshuffle in the wake of the contests – defence secretary Ben Wallace has already signalled he will exit the government so there is a vacancy to be filled – although No 10 has publicly insisted there are no plans for a shake-up. Sunak would need to decide whether the benefits of freshening up his team at this stage would be outweighed by the risk of it being perceived as a panicked response to an electoral setback. In Uxbridge and South Ruislip, Labour’s Danny Beales hopes to defeat the Tory Steve Tuckwell, although rows over the Mayor of London’s decision to extend the ultra-low emission zone may cost Labour votes. In Selby and Ainsty, 25-year-old Keir Mather will become the new Baby of the House if he wins for Labour, with Tory Claire Holmes trying to retain the seat for her party. Somerton and Frome has Sarah Dyke hoping to win for the Liberal Democrats, while Faye Purbrick wants to ensure it stays Conservative. Polls have closed in byelections The polls have now closed in the byelections to choose a new MP in Somerton and Frome, Uxbridge and South Ruislip and Selby and Ainsty. Voters had been able to cast their ballots from 7am on Thursday. If the Conservatives suffer three defeats, Rishi Sunak could become the first prime minister since Harold Wilson in 1968 to lose a trio of byelections in a single day. We are in the last few minutes of voting in three byelections in England in a significant test of Rishi Sunak’s premiership. They are being held in the south-western Tory stronghold of Somerton and Frome in Somerset, Boris Johnson’s old seat in the west London suburbs Uxbridge and South Ruislip and Selby and Ainsty, North Yorkshire, which was triggered by Nigel Adams’s resignation last month.