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Daily Mirror

Politics

Rachel Wearmouth

Labour win close-run Batley and Spen by-election defying the odds in shock victory

Labour has pulled off a stunning victory in the Batley and Spen by-election race after holding the seat by 323 votes.

Kim Leadbeater, sister of murdered MP Jo Cox, hung on to the West Yorkshire seat for Keir Starmer's party with 13,246 votes to Conservative Ryan Stephenson's 12,973 in an astonishingly close-run contest.

Maverick left-winger George Galloway, who stood as a candidate for the Workers Party, took 8,265.

The shock result for Labour comes after the bookies had the Tories odds-on favourite for weeks, with the odds shortening only in the final few hours of the campaign.

The news will end speculation Mr Starmer may be ousted as leader by a rival, following reports Angela Rayner was preparing to challenge him - something the Deputy Leader strongly denies.

Ms Leadbeater thanked her family and friends for their support (Getty Images)

“I’m absolutely delighted that the people of Batley and Spen have rejected division and they’ve voted for hope," said Ms Leadbeater.

She thanked her family saying “without them I could not have got through the last five years never mind the last five weeks.”

Later she declared: “It has been a very emotional campaign and today is very emotional for me for lots of reasons.

“But if I can be half the MP Jo was, I know I will do her proud and I’ll do her family proud. Fingers crossed I’ll do a fantastic job, just as she did.”

Mr Starmer said the Batley and Spen by-election was “fantastic result... against the odds" for "the brilliant and brave” Kim Leadbeater.

He said: “Kim has shown inspiring resilience in the face of hatred and intimidation. She was unafraid to call it out and ran a positive campaign of hope.

"Kim embodies everything I want the Labour Party to stand for: passionate about her local community and determined to bring people together... This is just the start.”

Allies of Mr Starmer have called on his critics from the Labour left to back the Leader.

"“An incredible result given the circumstances of Galloway but a vindication of a brilliant candidate and super campaign masterminded by Holly Lynch MP and party staff," said a senior Labour source. "Nasty division has been rejected. Maybe now a certain deputy leader will stop leaking leadership challenges and get behind Keir.”

Another Labour source added: "‘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."

Labour candidate Kim Leadbeater celebrates after winning (PA)

Meanwhile, the Conservatives' candidate was not able to give a speech due to Covid restrictions swiftly left the count after the result was announced.

Tory chair Amanda Milling later insisted it was "always going to be a tough battle" adding: "This is a Labour hold, not a Labour gain, not a win."

She told Sky News: "This is not a 'great win' for the Labour Party. We really took the fight to them. They only won by a matter of just over 300 votes."

Kim Leadbeater of the Labour Party reacts to media after winning the Batley and Spen by-election (Getty Images)

Asked if it was the 'Hancock effect', she replied: "There's a whole load of issues that affected our campaign, there's lots of issues that come up on the doorstep." But she later admitted: "I’ll be honest with you; the issue with Matt did come up on the doorstep."

It marks the end of a divisive campaign, which saw Ms Leadbeater targeted for harassment and intimidation.

The bitterly-fought battle was also peppered by accusations of racism, homophobia, fake leaflets and claims of dirty tricks.

Ryan Stephenson of the Conservative Party, who received 12,973 votes, reacts to the results (Getty Images)

Brendan Cox, who was married to the late MP Jo, tweeted: "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."

The by-election was triggered after the former MP and ex-Coronation Street actress Tracy Brabin won the race to become West Yorkshire Mayor in May's local elections.

Bitter Mr Galloway, who came third, said he would apply to have the result set aside by the courts.

Speaking outside the count, he said 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.

Victorious Ms Leadbeater hit out at the vicious campaign which saw Labour activists assaulted and smeared with fake leaflets in which Labour was purported to be battling “whiteness”.

“There’s been moments of real unpleasantness and what’s really upsetting is I’ve had police looking after me - those police should be out doing other things and spending their time on the issues people are concerned about," she said.

She said she had tried to “rise above” it, but told BBC Breakfast: “We need to think about what politics looks like going forward.

“And for me some of the tactics that we’ve seen in recent weeks - they have no place in politics in this country as far as I’m concerned.”

Ms Leadbeater said it was “sad” that she should be focused on security, especially after her sister Jo Cox’s death, when she should only be excited.

Kim Leadbeater now has the seat which was held by her sister, Jo Cox (Johnston Press / SWNS.com)

“We need to make sure politicians connect with people so we can hopefully break down some of that toxicity”, she said.

Ms Leadbeater admitted “there’s work to do” to widen Labour’s support after “two really tough election defeats” and more than 8,000 votes going to George Galloway.

“I want to be part of that rebuilding process,” she said. “The Labour Party values are the values I’ve lived my life by - this is about social justice and fairness and equality.

“But we’ve got to reconnect with some of our voters and for me to be part of that is something I’m very excited about doing.”

She insisted: “The fact that I’m born and bred here has been really important to people.”

Campaigners also pointed out the Lib Dem vote share dropped from 4.7% to 3.3%.

Naomi Smith, Chief Executive of campaign group Best for Britain, said: “Over the last few years we have seen too often what happens when the progressive parties split each others’ votes, and let this divisive and nativist government in through the middle.”