Brendan Cox thanks Tory

Brendan Cox, widower of the former consitutency MP Jo Cox, thanked Conservative Batley and Spen candidate Ryan Stephenson for "fighting the campaign on the issues and not pandering to divisions".

Brendan Cox, husband of Jo Cox, thanked Conservative Batley and Spen candidate Ryan Stephenson for "fighting the campaign on the issues and not pandering to divisions".

He tweeted: "We may disagree on a lot but he's a good man and has more to give."

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Stephenson had fought an “incredibly positive campaign” and “all things considered did very well to reduce a longstanding Labour majority several decades old to only 323”.

He said it was the “third biggest swing in favour of the Government since the war”.

During a visit to Batley, Sir Keir insisted the easing of lockdown curbs would enable him for the first time properly to spell out party policies and present himself to electors in the run-up to the Labour conference in September.

The former Cabinet minister Lord Mandelson told BBC Radio 4: “We’re not pulling people towards us in sufficient numbers. We have to show we are a competitive, viable alternative to the Tories.”

Lord Mandelson said Sir Keir needed to use the Labour Party conference to “set out his stall properly”.

“He’s got to show and map out a way forward for the party and I’m confident he’ll do so,” he said.

Labour’s shadow Scotland secretary Ian Murray claimed Labour’s by-election victory showed the “politics of division has been defeated”.

He praised Ms Leadbeater, saying: "I'm delighted for Kim who will be a fantastic MP and this result shows that people want representatives who will work to bring people and communities together rather than setting them off against each other.

"The old politics of division has been defeated and there is a lesson for us all in that.

"While our opponents both in Scotland and across the UK want to focus on divisions between us, Labour will win by focusing on what unites us and delivering on community priorities."

The Edinburgh South MP also hit out at Mr Galloway, who had promised to eat his hat if Labour didn’t come third.

On Friday morning, dozens of placards and banners promoting