Blackpool South by-election: Sir Keir Starmer hails ‘seismic win’ as Labour takes seat from Conservatives
Labour has won the Blackpool South by-election from the Conservatives in yet another blow for Rishi Sunak’s leadership.
The party’s candidate Chris Webb received 10,825 votes after Thursday’s contest – a 58.9% vote share – with the Tories trailing far behind with just 3,218.
Reform UK were hot on their heels, getting 3,101 votes, while the Liberal Democrats got 387 votes and the Green Party won 368.
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Local elections results as they come in
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer called it a “seismic” victory for his party and “the most important” amid a raft of local election results.
He added: “This is the one contest where voters had the chance to send a message to Rishi Sunak’s Conservatives directly, and that message is an overwhelming vote for change.”
Speaking to Sky News after his win was announced, Mr Webb said his priority in parliament would be the cost of living crisis, as it had “damaged so many people here in Blackpool South [and] people are struggling to make ends meet”.
The Commons’ newest MP said people were “fed up” and “want change”, adding: “Life-long Conservatives voted for me in this election and Labour because they want that change.
“So many people are crying out for a Labour government, Rishi Sunak need to admit he’s failed and call a general election.”
Blackpool South becomes the seventh seat the Conservative Party has lost to the Labour Party in this parliament – although the Tories won Hartlepool off Labour 2021.
Read more – local election results:
Labour pull off shock wins in Tory strongholds
The by-election was called after the former Conservative MP Scott Benton – who won the seat in 2019 with a slimmer majority of 3,690 – was caught in a sting by The Times newspaper, suggesting he was willing to break lobbying rules for money.
As a result, he was suspended from the Commons for 35 days, meaning he was subject to a recall petition in his constituency.
But instead of facing removal from his seat, Mr Benton resigned from parliament, triggering a vote for a new MP.
In an added painful twist for the Tories, the candidate standing to replace him, David Jones, was revealed as the chairman of the Fylde Conservatives – the area represented by the latest scandal hit MP Mark Menzies.
Mr Menzies hit the headlines after claims he misused campaign funds – including by calling a member of the local association to say he was locked in a flat by “bad people” and needed £5,000 as a matter of “life and death”.
Mr Jones denied he knew anything about the incident – which was allegedly reported to the Conservative Party three months ago – until it was revealed in the media.
Tory MP Ben Spencer said it was a “very disappointing” result, but “not entirely unexpected”.
He put the loss down to a lower turnout due to the scandal involving Mr Benton, telling Sky News: “Voters don’t like voting in a by-election. Why should they? And particularly one that’s been generated through a scandal.
“They’re going to be very annoyed and saying, ‘why do I have to vote again? Why is my Conservative MP gone?’
“And… of course, given that circumstance, it was always going to be a very, very uphill struggle.”
A party spokesperson also described the by-election as “a tough fight” that was “always going to be difficult… given the specific circumstances,” adding: “What has been clear is that a vote for Reform is a vote for Sir Keir Starmer – taking us right back to square one.”
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The by-election took place alongside local elections around England and Wales.
As results began to roll in, Labour took control of a number of local authorities where voters overwhelmingly backed Brexit in the 2016 referendum.
However, there are hundreds of seats still to be declared, along with 10 mayoralties and 37 police and crime commissioners, in the coming hours and days.
Follow our live coverage of the election results throughout the weekend – find the full details here.
Politics
Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell tells Nigel Farage ‘kneejerk’ migrant deportation plan won’t solve problem
The Archbishop of York has told Sky News the UK should resist Reform’s “kneejerk” plan for the mass deportation of migrants, telling Nigel Farage he is not offering any “long-term solution”.
Stephen Cottrell said in an interview with Trevor Phillips he has “every sympathy” with people who are concerned about asylum seekers coming to the country illegally.
But he criticised the plan announced by Reform on Tuesday to deport 600,000 people, which would be enabled by striking deals with the Taliban and Iran, saying it will not “solve the problem”.
Mr Cottrell is currently acting head of the Church of England while a new Archbishop of Canterbury is chosen.
Pic: Jacob King/PA Wire
The Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell in 2020.
File pic: PA
Phillips asked him: “What’s your response to the people who are saying the policy should be ‘you land here, unlawfully, you get locked up and you get deported straight away. No ifs, no buts’?”
Mr Cottrell said he would tell them “you haven’t solved the problem”, adding: “You’ve just put it somewhere else and you’ve done nothing to address the issue of what brings people to this country.
“And so if you think that’s the answer, you will discover in due course that all you have done is made the problem worse.
“Don’t misunderstand me, I have every sympathy with those who find this difficult, every sympathy – as I do with those living in poverty.
“But… we should actively resist the kind of isolationist, short term kneejerk ‘send them home’.”
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What do public make of Reform’s plans?
Nigel Farage at the launch of Reform UK’s plan to deport asylum seekers. Pic: PA
Asked if that was his message to the Reform leader, he said: “Well, it is. I mean, Mr Farage is saying the things he’s saying, but he is not offering any long-term solution to the big issues which are convulsing our world, which lead to this. And, I see no other way.”
You can watch the full interview on Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips on Sky News from 8.30am
Mr Farage, the MP for Clacton, was asked at a news conference this week what he would say if Christian leaders opposed his plan.
“Whoever the Christian leaders are at any given point in time, I think over the last decades, quite a few of them have been rather out of touch, perhaps with their own flock,” he said.
“We believe that what we’re offering is right and proper, and we believe for a political party that was founded around the slogan of family, community, country that we are doing right by all of those things, with these plans we put forward today.”
Sky News has approached Mr Farage for comment.
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