Tamworth by-election: Labour take seat in blow for Conservative party
The Labour party have taken the Conservative seat of Tamworth with a new 1,316 seat majority.
It comes as a historic victory for Labour, who have overturned a 20,000 majority held by ex-Tory MP Chris Pincher, who resigned from his seat after losing an appeal against a proposed Commons suspension for drunkenly groping two men.
Whilst it is a huge moment for Sir Keir Starmer's Labour party, their first victory in Tamworth since 2005, it comes as a big blow to the Conservatives with calls for a general election echoed in Tamworth's new MP Sarah Edwards' victory speech.
Addressing the 11,719 constituents who voted for her, Sarah Edwards said: "I know a lot of you have voted Labour for the first time, and I will not let you down."
"I will be a visible and approachable Member of Parliament, who delivers on our town's priorities"
"My message to the Prime Minister is get in your government car, drive to Buckingham Palace, do the decent thing and call a general election."
Her Conservative opponent, Andrew Cooper, was ushered out of a side door after his defeat was confirmed, with Tory staff blocking the exit as he did so.
Voter turnout in the Tamworth by-election was 35.94%, a significant drop from the 64.3% at the last general election in 2019.
Here are the results across all parties:
Labour: 11,719
Conservatives: 10,403
Reform UK: 1,373
Britain First: 580
The UK Independence Party: 436
Liberal Democrats: 417
Green Party: 417
Monster Raving Loony Party: 155
Independent: 86
The Labour Party leader, Sir Keir Starmer, claimed Labour was “redrawing the political map” by taking seats which had been comfortably Conservative ahead of the general election expected next year.
He said: “These are phenomenal results that show Labour is back in the service of working people and redrawing the political map.
“Winning in these Tory strongholds shows that people overwhelmingly want change and they’re ready to put their faith in our changed Labour Party to deliver it.
“Voters across Mid Bedfordshire, Tamworth and Britain want a Labour government determined to deliver for working people, with a proper plan to rebuild our country.
“To those who have given us their trust, and those considering doing so, Labour will spend every day acting in your interests and focused on your priorities. Labour will give Britain its future back.”
The Conservatives sought to portray the by-elections as mid-term blips, exacerbated by the difficulties surrounding the previous MPs.
But elections expert Professor Sir John Curtice said the two results were “extremely bad news” for the Conservatives and suggested Mr Sunak was on course for general election defeat.
“This isn’t destiny, but it is a pointer and it is a pointer that, unless the Conservatives can fairly dramatically and fairly radically turn things around, then they are in truth staring defeat in the face in 12 months’ time.”
He warned the Tories risked seeing votes drift to Labour on the left and Reform UK on the right.
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