LONDON, July 20 (UPI) -- Britain's Labor Party beat back a late surge by Liberal Democrats to retain two seats Friday following by-elections.
In the first polling victory since he became prime minister, Gordon Brown's Labor Party managed to hold both Ealing Southall and Sedgefield, The Times of London reported.
The results were a blow to the Tories whose candidate Tony Lit, a young Sikh, ended up in third place after it emerged that Lit had attended a Labor fundraising dinner just days before being selected to run.
In selecting Lit, Conservative Party chief David Cameron was apparently hoping to draw support from British Asians in the multiracial constituency.
Cameron made five trips to Ealing Southall for the by-election.
Labor's victories are being viewed as a vindication of Brown's decision to call snap polls following the death last month of Ealing Southall's MP Piara Khabra and the resignation of former Prime Minister Tony Blair as MP for Sedgefield.
