Labour overturn 19,000 Tory majority for ‘incredible’ Tamworth win

20 October 2023, 02:46 BST

Updated 28 minutes ago

Image caption,

Tamworth’s new Labour MP Sarah Edwards wants the prime minister to call a general election

Labour have won the Tamworth by-election overturning a Conservative majority of more than 19,000 votes.

Sarah Edwards’ margin of victory over her Conservative rival, Andrew Cooper, was 1,316 votes with a 35.95% turnout.

She said the people of Tamworth had “voted for Labour’s positive vision” and sent a clear message to Rishi Sunak and the government that it was “time for change”.

The by-election was held after the resignation of MP Chris Pincher.

The swing from the Conservatives to Labour was 23.9%, the second-highest ever by-election swing to Labour. Political commentator Sir John Curtice said no government had lost a seat as safe as Tamworth.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said: “This is a phenomenal result that shows Labour is back in the service of working people and redrawing the political map.”

Image caption,

The Conservative candidate, Andrew Cooper, left the stage as soon as the result was declared

Ms Edwards said her win was a “historic victory” in Tamworth.

“It is quite incredible, it is not something we were expecting, we worked very hard to make sure we got out, spoke to people and gave them a really clear message that change was possible,” she said.

The former union organiser and NHS governor said she won it because she had been “speaking to people, understanding their concerns, and hearing what they had to say”.

The cost of living, policing and the health service had been the big issues on the doorstep, she said.

She said former MP Chris Pincher’s conduct and “lack of visibility” had been really disappointing for people in Tamworth and left them feeling “let down”.

“They haven’t had a voice in Tamworth, they haven’t felt proud of their MP.

“I think one of the things we can take is a lot of comfort from the fact that people have seen that Labour are offering a positive vision, that they want a fresh start and they are not seeing that the Conservatives have anything to offer.”

To play this content, please enable JavaScript, or try a different browser

Video caption,

Watch moment Labour’s Sarah Edwards wins Tamworth by-election

A Conservative spokesman said it had been a “difficult result on much-reduced turnout”.

“The government of the day rarely wins by-elections and there were specific reasons around the nature of the departure of the previous MP,” he said.

“No government has hitherto lost to the principal opposition party in a by-election a seat as safe as Tamworth,” Prof Sir John Curtice said.

He also pointed out a precedent from 1996 when Labour won the seat from the Conservatives with a 22% swing and then went on to claim a landslide victory in the 1997 general election.

The seat has existed in its current form since 1997. It was held from 1997 to 2010 by Labour Party, and since 2010 by Mr Pincher for the Tories.

The turnout of just 35.95% was lower than those seen in the 2023 by-elections in Uxbridge, Selby and Ainsty and Somerton and Frome.

The recent by-election in Rutherglen was 37.1%.

Only the West Lancashire by-election, a safe Labour seat, had a lower turnout this year.

Image caption,

Ian Cooper for Reform UK came third with 1,373 votes

North Warwickshire Conservative MP Craig Tracey earlier said “there was always a sense that there might be a little bit of voter apathy out there”.

He said bad weather and voter fatigue – with a general election due next year – were factors.

But Ms Edwards said the low turnout had not led to her winning by default, because Conservatives had stayed at home.

“I think what it actually demonstrates is Conservative voters have voted Labour – I have spoken to many of them,” she said.

She got 11,719 votes, ahead of Andrew Cooper with 10,403 and Ian Cooper from Reform UK, who received 1,373.

The rest of the nine candidates all got less than 600 votes.