Corbyn: We offered hope not the Tory politics of fear
LABOUR has hailed its shock Peterborough win as proof it was right to offer “the politics of hope” – and use plenty of “shoe leather”.
Lisa Forbes beat Brexit Party candidate Mike Greene by just 683 votes in the by-election to replace MP Fiona Onasanya, ousted after her conviction for lying over a speeding ticket.
Leader Jeremy Corbyn said: “Everybody, all the experts, wrote Lisa off. All the experts wrote Labour off yesterday. Write Labour off at your peril.”
And he added that the result reflected them representing “the politics of hope, not the politics of fear”.
But party workers also stressed their old-fashioned grassroots activism, one saying: “We won this campaign with shoe leather.” Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party had been fancied to take the seat – which voted 60.9% for Leave in 2016.
In recent weeks, they and the Tories had put Brexit and the Onasanya row at the heart of their campaigns.
But from January, Labour activists had been knocking on doors to engage people – and distance themselves from Onasanya. A source said: “The Brexit
How the votes were cast
30.9% 29.8% 21.4% 12.3% 3.1% 2.4% Party never realised. By the time they turned up saying a vote for Labour was a vote for a criminal, we’d done hard yards distancing ourselves, framing the campaign about what people cared about.”
Insiders think 1,000 people visited the seat to help get Labour voters out on the day. Mr Farage said he was happy with his campaign and Labour won as they had the “data” and “infrastructure”. But Labour insiders said his “showboating” was his undoing. While Labour won, its share was down to 31% with Mr Farage’s party on 29%. But the result was disastrous for the Tories, who came third on 21%. Leadership candidate Boris Johnson said: “Conservatives must deliver Brexit by October 31 or we risk Brexit Party votes delivering Corbyn to No10.” DELIGHTED and Lisa