The UK opposition Labour party held onto a parliamentary seat in a special election in northwest England, boosting morale among Keir Starmer’s supporters ahead of a general poll in less than two years.
(Bloomberg) — The UK opposition Labour party held onto a parliamentary seat in a special election in northwest England, boosting morale among Keir Starmer’s supporters ahead of a general poll in less than two years.
Labour candidate Ashley Dalton won 14,068 votes in the ballot in West Lancashire triggered by Rosie Cooper stepping down as a Member of Parliament to become the chair of a local National Health Service trust.
Cooper, a long-serving backbencher who has represented the seat for Labour since 2005, was the target of a far-right murder plot in 2017. In a statement announcing her resignation last September, she said events had “taken their toll.”
The Conservative candidate, Mike Prendergast, came in second with 5,742 votes. Labour has held the seat since 1992 but the result is nevertheless a boost for the opposition party, which hopes to win back power at the next election — due by January 2025 at the latest — after more than a decade out of office.
Britain’s Public Service Crisis May Be Final Straw for Tories
Rishi Sunak’s Conservative Party has been trailing behind Labour by around 20 points in the national polls for months amid a backdrop of ongoing industrial disputes and ministerial scandals, and a record squeeze on living standards.
–With assistance from Adam Majendie.
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