U.K. election results pose mixed questions for Sunak and Starmer

Three strikes and also you’re out.

The foundations for baseball may apply to politics. Britain’s Tory authorities prevented dropping an unprecedented three by-elections on a single day on Thursday by a whisker, all in Conservative-held seats. For a authorities that should name a normal election inside 18 months, a wipeout would have spelled doom.

After a recount, the Conservatives held on in Boris Jonson’s vacated London seat in Uxbridge and South Ruislip. An unpopular inexperienced tax on vehicles often called the Extremely-Low Emission Zone, prolonged with out session to outer London by Labour Mayor Sadiq Khan, is broadly blamed for depriving opposition chief Keir Starmer of a second thumping victory.