Starmer Says Blackpool South Voters Have Sent A Message To Sunak
3 min read
Voters in Blackpool sent a message “directly to the Prime Minister” Keir Starmer has said, after a by-election that saw a huge swing towards Labour.
Labour's candidate Chris Webb gained 10,825 votes in the Blackpool South by-election, with Conservative David Jones recieving 3,218 votes, scraping into second place ahead of Reform's candidate, Mark Butcher, who secured 3,101 votes in a strong result for the party, with the Liberal Democrat candidate Andrew Cregan receiving 387.
The result – a 26 per cent swing from the Tories to Labour in a seat where the opposition only needed a swing of 5.5 per cent – was the third largest in a by-election since the war.
Speaking in the Lancashire town after the result this morning, Labour leader Starmer said: “Here in Blackpool, a message has been sent directly to the Prime Minister, because this was a parliamentary vote.
“This was directly to Rishi Sunak to say we're fed up with your decline, your chaos, your division and we want change.
“We want to go forward with Labour.”
Speaking after he won the election in the early hours, Webb said that people in Blackpool have "had enough of this failed government".
"I believe many people in Blackpool have been left in little faith in politicians," Webb said, referring to the fact his predecessor, Tory MP Scott Benton, resigned after a lobbying scandal.
He called on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to do "the decent thing", and "admit you have failed and call a general election".
The Blackpool South by-election is the third by-election defeat the Conservatives have suffered so far this year, after losing the Wellingborough and Kingswood by-elections in February.
Thursday's by-election was called after suspended Conservative MP Scott Benton resigned when the House of Commons voted for him to be suspended from the House for 35 days and triggered a recall petition.
It followed a report from the Commons Standards Committee which recommended the suspension due to a "very serious breach" of MP lobbying rules after suggesting to reporters at The Times he would be willing to leak confidential information and lobby ministers on behalf of the gambling industry.
The Red Wall seat had been held by Labour since 1997 until Benton won it for the Conservatives in the 2019 general election which saw the Conservatives make significant inroads across traditional Labour heartlands.
Reform, while coming narrowly third in the by-election, claimed 17 per cent of the vote, easily the party's best performance in a parliamentary by-election yet, though their candidate Mark Butcher said he was disappointed with the result.
Blackpool South had been one of the target seats for Reform ahead of the general election as it seeks to tap into the growing disllusionment with the Conservatives in many of the seats the party won from Labour in 2019 in the Midlands and the North.
In March Reform MP Lee Anderson, who had the Conservative whip suspended earlier this year for claiming Labour mayor Sadiq Khan was "controlled by Islamists" before moving to Reform, launched the party's campaign in the constituency. At the launch, Butcher said he was seeking to give both Labour and the Conservatives a "bloody nose" in the by election.
Additional reporting by Caitlin Doherty
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