LONDON (AP) — Britain’s governing Conservative Party has made further inroads in northern England and won a special parliamentary election in the post-industrial town of Hartlepool. The result announced Friday is a big blow to the main opposition Labour Party, which had held the seat since 1974. Managing to present themselves as the party of change despite having led the U.K. for 11 years, Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Conservatives extended their grip on parts of England that were Labour strongholds for decades. The Conservatives appeared to be headed for a series of victories a day after millions of voters cast ballots in an array of local and regional elections in England, Scotland and Wales.
