A short while ago, Boris Johnson, former MP for Uxbridge and South Ruislip, sent his congratulations to his successor.

Writing on Twitter this morning, external, the former PM hailed the win as "fantastic news" and praised the "amazing Conservative council and association members".

"This shows the Conservatives can win in London and around the country," he added.

Here's what listeners to Nicky Campbell's regular phone-in on BBC Radio 5 Live have to say about the by-election results.

Chrissy in Frome - who is Conservative - says the whole area is “very, very disillusioned” with a MP they felt hadn’t represented them over the past year. So yesterday, she voted Green.

“I think everybody was so fed up that they were very determined to not vote Conservative," she says.

But Sue in Uxbridge says while the Conservatives won in her constituency, it wasn’t a vote for Sunak - rather it was a vote “against Ulez and Sadiq Khan”.

She suggests many voters in the area still supported the former MP Boris Johnson.

Conservative MP for North-East Somerset Jacob Rees-Mogg was also on BBC Radio 4's Today programme a short time ago, attempting to calm any nerves that his colleagues may have after last night's results.

"I'm very much saying don't panic", he said.

"Between 1987 and 1992 the Conservatives lost by-election after by-election... and then in (the general election of) 1992 we won back every seat we had lost," he says.

And despite previously criticising Rishi Sunak's policies, and saying he'd broken his word, this morning Rees-Mogg said the Conservative party must stand by the PM.

"This is very important, that Tory MPs like me should rally behind the prime minister," he said.

"Better a Conservative prime minister than a socialist prime minister."

The Conservative Party has suffered two big by-election defeats, losing safe seats to Labour and the Liberal Democrats.

But the Tories held on to Boris Johnson's former constituency of Uxbridge and South Ruislip in London, winning by 495 votes.

During a visit to Uxbridge this morning, Rishi Sunak said the victory there showed that the next general election was not "a done deal" and he vowed to "stick to his plan and "deliver for people".

Image source, PA Media

The upcoming general election will be fought on matters "of substance", Rishi Sunak also told reporters a little while ago.

The victory in Uxbridge and South Ruislip demonstrates "when people are confronted with a real choice, a choice on a matter of substance as they have here, they vote Conservative", he says.

He said: "That's what the general election is going to be about. It's going to be about actual issues that make a difference to people. And that's what we deliver in the Conservative Party."

Asked about bad results elsewhere, Rishi Sunak says "mid-term by-elections are rarely easy for incumbent governments".

He says the circumstances of last night's elections were "far from favourable".

"It's a reminder to politicians that we need to focus on what matters to people and not be distracted by what's going on in Westminster," Sunak tells reporters.

He says that what the government has been doing recently has "made a major difference to people" - citing falling inflation, investment in the auto industry, a long-term workforce plan for the NHS and passing "our stop the boats bill".

"We're getting on and delivering for people and that's what I'm going to do all the way to the next election," Sunak adds.

More from the PM visit with new Tory MP Steve Tuckwell now, who says "no one expected us to win" the by-election Uxbridge and South Ruislip.

"But Steve's victory demonstrates that when confronted with the actual reality of the Labour Party, when there's an actual choice on a matter of substance at stake, people vote Conservative," Sunak tells reporters at a cafe in the north-west London constituency.

Image source, PA Media

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak says his party's win in Uxbridge and South Ruislip shows the next general election is not a "done deal".

The PM adds: "Westminster's been acting like the next election is a done deal. The Labour Party has been acting like it's a done deal. The people of Uxbridge just told all of them that it's not."

Image source, PA Media

Rishi Sunak is in Uxbridge to meet the new MP for the area, Steve Tuckwell, with the pair visiting a local cafe in the area.

We anticipate the prime minister will be asked a few questions about the overnight results, so stick with us and we'll bring you what he has to say here.

Rishi Sunak has sent his congratulations to Steve Tuckwell, the new Conservative MP for Uxbridge and South Ruislip.

Describing the outcome as a "much deserved result after a great campaign" on Twitter, external, the PM adds he looks forward to welcoming Tuckwell to Westminster.

Hands is asked now what Prime Minister Rishi Sunak would have to change to win over voters in Yorkshire and Somerset - counties in which his party lost seats in Thursday's by-elections.

Hands says the party is listening carefully in both constituencies.

He says they need to continue to focus on the people's priorities, including reducing inflation and stopping illegal immigration.

"We need to continue the work. It's too early to start talking about next year's general election," he tells Nick Robinson on BBC Radio 4.

He adds that people want to see a "good, strong, competent, Conservative government".

By-elections are "not always a good predictor of general election", he insists.

More from Greg Hands, the Tory chairman, on Today.

He insists that the government is committed to phasing out high-emitting cars by the year 2030, and that it will give people time to upgrade their vehicles.

"You cannot give them only nine months of time to get rid of their existing car and buy a new one," he adds. This is a reference to the contentious expansion of London's Ultra Low Emissions Zone (Ulez) to Uxbridge; something opposed by the victorious Conservative candidate Steve Tuckwell.

Hands says he believes that Uxbridge was a reaction to Sadiq Khan's time as London mayor. "The real misgiving about Labour in power is reflected in the Uxbridge result," he says, before going on to refer to Khan's seven-year tenure.

Greg Hands, the Conservative Party chairman, again insists that winning the Uxbridge and South Ruislip by-election is a "standout" result of the night, despite his party's slim majority and two losses elsewhere.

He admits, however, that: "We had a difficult year last year, the country had a difficult year last year" and that "the Conservatives need to do better."

Greg Hands, the Conservative Party chairman, is appearing on BBC Radio 4's Today programme now - we'll bring you any key lines here.

Some more from Labour's deputy leader Angela Rayner on BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

She says even though the win in Selby - which saw her party overturn a huge deficit - was a "great result", her party is "not taking anything for granted" and has "more work to do".

Referring to Uxbridge - retained by the Tories - she says the seat shows that "Ulez is a major issue."

She cites the cost-of-living crisis, saying this means people cannot afford charges related to the vehicle emissions policy (which is explained in our earlier post). Labour has "got to work to push the government" on that point, she adds.

Asked if her party missed a big opportunity in the constituency, Rayner says: "It’s disappointing that we didn't get over the line in Uxbridge - but we are going to put in an alternative credible plan forward so we can change it in the next general election."

More from Greg Hands, the Tory chairman, speaking to BBC Breakfast.

He says the backdrop to Thursday's elections "wasn't particularly favourable to us" but says the result in Selby and Ainsty (won by Labour) was caused by "Conservative voters staying at home", adding that the party needs to work to get them "back to the polls".

Hands stresses that it will "take time" for the prime minister to deliver on his five priorities: having inflation this year, growing the economy, bringing down national debt, reducing NHS waiting lists, and stopping small boats stopping the English Channel.

Rishi Sunak is working "incredibly hard" on these, Hands says.

Chairman of the Conservative Party Greg Hands says lessons have to be learned from their two by-election defeats, and admits his party must "regain the trust and confidence" of voters.

But, speaking to BBC Breakfast, he hails the "standout" result in Uxbridge and said "people have seen through (Mayor) Sadiq Khan in the way he runs London and in Keir Starmer, in the way he runs the Labour party."

Here's more analysis from polling expert Prof Sir John Curtice, who appeared on BBC Radio 4's Today programme a short time ago.

"The Tories should not take too much comfort" from their win in Uxbridge, he suggested, pointing to the average drop in Conservative support across all three seats in which by-elections were held yesterday.

Chris Mason
Political editor

This set of elections amounted to a single question: just how badly did the Conservatives do?

The answer – very badly. But not as badly as they had feared.

The prospect of a crushing three-nil defeat – beaten everywhere – averted.

Labour managed to win - and win big, really big - in rural North Yorkshire; the kind of spot some distance from usually fertile political territory for them. And yet they lost in north-west London, where they’d expected to win. The power of a single issue (an expanding low emissions zone) was seemingly huge – in a city with a Labour mayor.

The Tory obliteration in Somerset will sow panic among many Conservatives in the south-west of England. The Liberal Democrat win was emphatic. This morning, the scope for any Tory comfort anywhere is very slender. But not as slender as it might have been.

Some quotes just in from the Lib Dem deputy leader Daisy Cooper.

Speaking to Nick Robinson on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, she hails a "fantastic result" on the by-election win of her candidate Sarah Dyke in Somerton and Frome.

“The Lib Dems are back in the West Country,” she says, echoing the words of party leader Sir Ed Davey. Cooper goes on to say that her party is now targeting 15 more seats in the region. You can watch a clip from her interview on Today above.

She adds on BBC Breakfast that people she's spoken to are "sick to the back teeth" of the Conservative government.