• Privacy policy
  • T&C’s
  • About Us
    • FAQ
    • Meet the Team
  • Contact us
TLE ONLINE SHOP!
  • TLE
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Opinion
  • Elevenses
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • Film
    • Lifestyle
      • Horoscopes
    • Lottery Results
      • Lotto
      • Thunderball
      • Set For Life
      • EuroMillions
  • Food
    • All Food
    • Recipes
  • Property
  • Travel
  • Tech/Auto
No Result
View All Result
The London Economic
SUPPORT THE LONDON ECONOMIC
NEWSLETTER
  • TLE
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Opinion
  • Elevenses
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • Film
    • Lifestyle
      • Horoscopes
    • Lottery Results
      • Lotto
      • Thunderball
      • Set For Life
      • EuroMillions
  • Food
    • All Food
    • Recipes
  • Property
  • Travel
  • Tech/Auto
No Result
View All Result
The London Economic
No Result
View All Result
Home Politics

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

Brendan Cox, husband of murdered Jo Cox, said the people of Batley and Spen had "voted for decency and positivity once again".

Jack Peat by Jack Peat
2021-07-02 06:43
in Politics
FacebookTwitterLinkedinEmailWhatsapp

Sir Keir Starmer has hailed a “fantastic result” as Labour held Batley and Spen after a bitter by-election contest.

Kim Leadbeater won the West Yorkshire seat with a majority of just 323 – down from the 3,525 vote cushion the party had in 2019 – but the result was a surprise after opinion polls put the Tories in the lead and Labour insiders had feared the worst.

The victory will ease the pressure on Sir Keir, who had faced questions about his leadership after the loss of Hartlepool in a by-election in May, and will boost morale within Labour.

Fantastic result for the brilliant and brave @KimLeadbeater.

Kim ran a positive campaign of hope, in the face of division.

She will be an outstanding Labour MP for Batley and Spen.

— Keir Starmer (@Keir_Starmer) July 2, 2021

Jo Cox

Ms Leadbeater secured the seat with 13,296 votes, with Tory Ryan Stephenson on 12,973 and George Galloway – who had targeted Labour voters and campaigned to topple Sir Keir – in third with 8.264.

The result means Ms Leadbeater now represents the seat previously held by her sister Jo Cox, who was murdered in the constituency in 2016.

Sir Keir hailed the “fantastic result” for the “brilliant and brave” Ms Leadbeater after a contest marred by allegations of dirty tricks and violence.

Ms Leadbeater said she was “absolutely delighted that the people of Batley and Spen have rejected division and they voted for hope”.

RelatedPosts

Latest Parliament catering prices show MPs are still drinking the cheapest pints in London

Picture of Rees-Mogg’s desk shows he doesn’t use a computer – and nobody is surprised

Lee Anderson bought a six-bedroom house months before telling food bank users to budget better

Jeremy Hunt refuses to say Boris Johnson is an ‘honest man’

Batley & Spen parliamentary by-election, result:

Lab: 35.3% (-7.4)
Con: 34.4% (-1.6)
WPGB: 21.9% (+21.9)
LDem: 3.3% (-1.3)
York: 2.2% (+2.2)
UKIP: 0.4% (+0.4)
Oth: 2.5% (+2.5)

Labour HOLD.

— Britain Elects (@BritainElects) July 2, 2021

An emotional Ms Leadbeater thanked the police “who, sadly, I have needed more than ever over the last few weeks” and her family, saying that “without them, I could not have got through the last five years, never mind the last five weeks”.

“I want to give a special shout out to my niece and nephew who I cannot wait to hug as soon as I see them,” she said, in an apparent reference to Mrs Cox’s two children.

We are all incredibly proud of @kimleadbeater today and Jo would have been too. While the result between the two main parties was close the extremists & haters were left trailing. The people of Batley & Spen have voted for decency and positivity once again.

— Brendan Cox (@MrBrendanCox) July 2, 2021

Mrs Cox’s widower Brendan tweeted: “We are all incredibly proud of @kimleadbeater today and Jo would have been too”.

“The people of Batley & Spen have voted for decency and positivity once again,” he said.

The Batley and Spen contest saw clashes between Mr Galloway’s Workers Party and Labour supporters.

The most controversial arguments centred on the parties’ stance on international issues, including Kashmir and Palestine, as they battled to secure votes in the area’s Asian communities.

Pelted with eggs

Labour activists said they were pelted with eggs and kicked in the head on the campaign trail at the weekend and West Yorkshire Police said an 18-year-old man from Batley was arrested on suspicion of assault in connection with an attack on canvassers.

Ms Leadbeater was also confronted by a man who challenged her over the situation in Kashmir and her stance on LGBT education in schools amid what he said were concerns from Muslim parents.

Mr Galloway said he would take legal action to get the result set aside, claiming his election effort had been damaged by a “false statement” that he had laughed while Ms Leadbeater was abused on the campaign trail.

“The whole election campaign was dominated by lazy and false tropes about our campaign, about the thousands of people that voted for us, about their motives for doing so, in a way which defamed them as much as it defamed me,” he said.

“So on multiple grounds we will apply to the courts for this election result to be set aside.”

Congrats to @kimleadbeater and the whole Labour team. Thank you to the people of Batley & Spen ? It was so good to see so many activists out on the doorstep ❤️

— Angela Rayner (@AngelaRayner) July 2, 2021

Keir Starmer

The result will offer some breathing space to Sir Keir amid speculation about a possible leadership challenge in Westminster.

Ahead of the contest his allies said he would not quit if Labour had lost, but reports had suggested supporters of deputy leader Angela Rayner were plotting a move against him.

Ms Rayner described the suggestion as “news to me”, while her spokesman said anyone gauging support is “not doing it under instructions from Angela or with Angela’s backing” and she is “focused entirely on her jobs”.

Following the result, Ms Rayner offered her congratulations to Ms Leadbeater “and the whole Labour team”.

A senior Labour source said: “Everyone’s been calling this a referendum on Keir’s leadership.

“Well we’ve won – bucked the trend, held onto this marginal seat and advanced in Tory areas. A fantastic result.”

Related: ‘Brexit Day is today’, say EU citizens campaigners. What next?

Tags: Batley and SpenheadlineLabour Party

Since you are here

Since you are here, we wanted to ask for your help.

Journalism in Britain is under threat. The government is becoming increasingly authoritarian and our media is run by a handful of billionaires, most of whom reside overseas and all of them have strong political allegiances and financial motivations.

Our mission is to hold the powerful to account. It is vital that free media is allowed to exist to expose hypocrisy, corruption, wrongdoing and abuse of power. But we can't do it without you.

If you can afford to contribute a small donation to the site it will help us to continue our work in the best interests of the public. We only ask you to donate what you can afford, with an option to cancel your subscription at any point.

To donate or subscribe to The London Economic, click here.

The TLE shop is also now open, with all profits going to supporting our work.

The shop can be found here.

You can also SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER .

Subscribe to our Newsletter

View our  Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions

Trending on TLE

  • All
  • trending
Abdollah

‘Rescue us’: Afghan teacher begs UK to help him escape Taliban

CHOMSKY: “If Corbyn had been elected, Britain would be pursuing a much more sane course”

What If We Got Rid Of Prisons?

More from TLE

No nightclub parties on New Year’s Eve, Mark Drakeford says

Farage says “Brexit sell-out is close” as Cummings is sent packing

Four reasons your office needs Yammer in 2018

The Eurozone economy is heating up – And Brits are getting worried

Britain’s most overgrown car “only has gearbox issues”

Bar of the Week: Skylight Tobacco Dock

EXCLUSIVE: Dr Alex could become ‘first Romanian county councillor in the UK’

Love Island ‘promotes promiscuity and cheating among impressionable viewers’

Foreign Office denies they told Irish government to ignore whatever Boris Johnson has to say

Coronavirus UK – Up to 20,000 armed forces to form part of Covid Support Force

About Us

TheLondonEconomic.com – Open, accessible and accountable news, sport, culture and lifestyle.

Read more

© 2019 thelondoneconomic.com - TLE, International House, 24 Holborn Viaduct, London EC1A 2BN. All Rights Reserved.




No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Entertainment
  • Lifestyle
  • Food
  • Travel
  • More…
    • Elevenses
    • Opinion
    • Property
    • Tech & Auto
  • About Us
    • Meet the Team
    • Privacy policy
  • Contact us

© 2019 thelondoneconomic.com - TLE, International House, 24 Holborn Viaduct, London EC1A 2BN. All Rights Reserved.