Labour falls to third in Cameron by-election
LABOUR was pushed into third place in the by-election to succeed David Cameron as MP for Witney but the Tories saw their majority slashed.
Robert Courts, the Conservative candidate, secured the Oxfordshire seat with a majority of 5,702 over the Liberal Democrats.
The gap was 25,000 at last year’s general election.
Lib Dem leader Tim Farron hailed a 19.3 per cent swing to his party that propelled it from fourth place to second, pushing Labour into third.
In a concerted push, Mr Farron made five visits to the constituency backed by former leaders Nick Clegg, Paddy Ashdown and Menzies Campbell.
He said: ‘The result not only signals that the Liberal Democrats are back in the political big time and the return to three-party politics, it is a clear rejection of the Conservative Brexit Government’s plan to take Britain out of the single market.
‘This was the tenth safest Tory seat in the country with a massive 25,000 majority, yet the Conservatives were seriously rattled.’
The result for Labour will raise fears again that the party fails to appeal to swing voters under Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership.
Tom Watson, Labour’s deputy leader, played down his party’s defeat, dismissing suggestions that it was a disaster.
‘We did OK. Our share of the vote was all right,’ he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. ‘It’s about as much as you could expect.’
The Conservatives took 17,313 votes, just over 45 per cent of the total, down from Mr Cameron’s 60 per cent in 2015. The Lib Dems rose to 30 per cent from 6.8 per cent last year. Labour polled 15 per cent, down from 17 per cent at the general election.
In his acceptance speech, Mr Courts paid tribute to Mr Cameron – despite the former PM backing another candidate over him for the Tory nomination. The barrister said Mr Cameron had been ‘a great prime minister and a brilliant MP’.
Referring to Theresa May’s Government, he said: ‘Now we are going to move forward to build a country that works for everyone, our society should work for everyone, our economy should work for everyone and our democracy should work for everyone.’
Mr Cameron responded with a message on Twitter: ‘Many congratulations Robert Courts – you’ll be a great MP and representative for Witney and West Oxfordshire.’
There was better news for Labour in Batley and Spen, where former Coronation Street actress Tracy Brabin took 86 per cent of the vote in a by-election to find a replacement for Jo Cox, who was killed in June.
Other mainstream parties did not stand in the West Yorkshire contest out of respect for Mrs Cox. A string of far Right and fringe party candidates all lost their deposits.
Miss Brabin said: ‘This has been a difficult experience for all of us and tonight is a bittersweet occasion for me. That this by-election has had to take place at all is a tragedy. I hope Jo will be proud tonight of our community. We have shown that we stand together with one voice choosing unity and hope.’
But she was jeered by far Right candidates, who yelled out ‘she’s a racist’. Brendan Cox, the widower of the late MP, tweeted: ‘Great to see all the purveyors of hate lose their deposits.’
Chris Deerin – Page 23
‘Back in the big time’