'A brutal and punishing result for Labour': Midlands General Election Analysis
The Tory victory was the result of a brutal and punishing result for Labour in the Midlands, Alison Mackenzie writes.
East Midlands
In the East Midlands, Leave voting former mining communities have placed their faith in Boris Johnson’s Brexit offer.
Bolsover, Ashfield, Bassetlaw and Gedling have switched allegiance in results that see the defeat of long serving Labour figures such as Dennis Skinner and Vernon Coaker .
West Midlands
In the West Midlands the Tory victory has swept through the Labour strongholds of Stoke-on-Trent, Wolverhampton and West Bromwich.
These areas voted decisively to leave the EU - and they clearly favour a Conservative government to take the lead .
But it is the scale of the Tory victory which will sting most.
Take Telford as an example. A working class town fighting to keep a full time A&E department at the local hospital - the majority for the sitting Tory Lucy Allan has jumped from a slim 730 to more than 10,000.
And even in seats that have been long been held by Labour such as Leicester East, formerly held by Keith Vaz, comfortable majorities have been slashed.
It’s been a dismal night for the Liberal Democrats in the Midlands. Once again they have failed to take a single seat .
And for the Change UK figures - Anna Soubry In Broxtowe and Chris Leslie in Nottingham - who both left their parties as they moved further right and left - it’s a future on the sidelines - neither broke though to hold on to their seat.
So as the post mortem examinations begin, the Midlands has established itself as a key example of an electorate determined to ensure its future will be shaped by a Conservative government - a government with the biggest majority since the one secured by a certain lady from Grantham - Margaret Thatcher.
Read: the biggest stories of the General Election in the Midlands