Politics

Britain First former leader Jayda Fransen wins just 50 votes in Batley and Spen

Former Britain First leader Jayda Fransen, repeatedly convicted of hate crimes, secured fewer votes than the Monster Raving Loony Party at the Batley and Spen by-election yesterday.

The constituency was represented by Jo Cox before her assassination by a far right terrorist in 2016.

Cox’s sister, Kim Leadbeater, won the vote by a slim majority of 323 votes, beating her Conservative opponent into second place, followed by George Galloway in third.

16 candidates stood in the contest, with turnout at 47.6 per cent.

Howling Laud Hope, the leader of the Monster Raving Loony Party, manage to bag himself 107 votes, double that of Jayda Fransen on 50, who stood as an independent, as well as Anne Marie Waters, another far right candidate who polled 97 votes.

In May Fransen managed to bag just 46 votes when she stood in the Glasgow Southside election.

She saw her attempt to become an MSP in Glasgow end in total failure just hours after she confronted Nicola Sturgeon while out campaigning.

The SNP leader called her a “fascist and a racist” in the stand off, and later spoke out about the incident after election results were announced.

She said: “Yesterday the constituency was targeted by far-right thugs, the far-right thug that led that confrontation got 46 votes, and I am proud that once again that Glasgow Southside has shown the racists and the fascists that they are not welcome in Glasgow Southside, they are not welcome in Glasgow and they are not welcome anywhere in Scotland.

“And let that be a note of unity.”

Related: Starmer credits ‘campaign of hope’ as Labour hold Batley and Spen

Jack Peat

Jack is a business and economics journalist and the founder of The London Economic (TLE). He has contributed articles to VICE, Huffington Post and Independent and is a published author. Jack read History at the University of Wales, Bangor and has a Masters in Journalism from the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

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