Going nowhere
Defiant Corbyn insists he will not quit as leader Worried MPs warn of a general election disaster
JEREMY Corbyn has vowed to plough on as Labour leader despite steering the party to its worst byelection defeat in over 50 years.
Labour was crushed in Copeland on Thursday night as the Tories became the first party in government to win a seat from the Opposition in decades.
Labour’s victory over UKIP in a separate by-election in Stoke-on-Trent Central was not enough to quell the anger of MPs who fear the party will be humiliated at the next general election.
With the Tories ahead by 18 points in the national polls, veteran Labour MP David Winnick urged Mr Corbyn to consider his position.
Mr Winnick said: “The party is faced with the problem of a leader who is not acceptable to a large number of people who would normally vote Labour.”
Fellow Labour MP John Woodcock warned: “We are in trouble. We are on course for a historic and catastrophic defeat, and that will have very serious consequences for all of the communities that we represent.”
Last night Labour’s leader in the Lords, Baroness Smith, urged Mr Corbyn to “look long and hard” at the “devastating” result.
But Mr Corbyn has made it clear he is staying on. He admitted the defeat was “disappointing” but said: “I was elected to lead this party to oppose austerity, to oppose the redistribution of wealth in the wrong direction, which is what this government is doing. We will continue our campaigning work on the NHS, on social care, on housing.”
Copeland, in Cumbria, had been held by Labour for more than 80 years.
But the party’s majority of 2,564 was turned into a 2,147 majority for Tory candidate Trudy Harrison.
Polling expert Professor John Curtice said the 6.7% swing is the biggest towards a governing party in a byelection since 1966.
It was only the fourth time since the Second World War that the Opposition has lost a seat to the Government.
Prof Curtice said: “This is a very big deal – a remarkable victory for the Conservatives. The general rule of by-elections is governments – even when popular – lose ground. But in every single byelection since the Brexit referendum, Labour’s vote has been down.”
The result was especially bad for Labour as the campaign was fought on saving an NHS hospital from Tory cuts, supposedly Mr Corbyn’s strongest card.
The Sellafield nuclear complex is in Copeland, and it was the Tory focus on Mr Corbyn’s opposition to nuclear weapons, and his previous disapproval of nuclear power, that won the day.
Neighbouring Barrow-in-Furness is home to the shipyards where the Trident nuclear submarines are built.
Several Labour MPs who pounded the streets in Copeland told the Mirror that Mr Corbyn came in for criticism from numerous disgruntled voters.
One MP said: “We campaigned in one of the wealthier areas... every doorstep we knocked on, the people worked at Sellafield. Everyone raised the leadership. These were supposed to be Labour voters, but they all said they couldn’t vote for us because of the leader.” Mr Corbyn dismissed any concerns. Asked if he considered he might be the reason for the defeat, he said: “No.” Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell put the loss down to “disunity” among Labour MPs. Shadow Cabinet minister Cat Smith insisted the result was an “incredible achievement” given Labour is so far behind the Tories in the polls. UNISON general secretary Dave Prentis said: “The blame... does not lie solely with Jeremy Corbyn, but he must take responsibility for what happens next.”
The mood among most Labour MPs was one of despair, with few seeing any prospect of another challenge to Mr Corbyn’s leadership so soon after his resounding victory last summer.
Theresa May swept into Copeland yesterday to celebrate, roaring: “This is an astounding victory.” The by-election was triggered by the resignation of Labour’s Jamie Reed, a Corbyn critic, who quit the seat to take a job at Sellafield.
The crushing defeat for Labour candidate Gillian Troughton has left the Tories believing they can encroach further into the Opposition’s heartlands.