Labour have narrowly held the Batley and Spen by-election by a margin of just 323 votes. George Galloway is seething about the result, but his demand for a full recount has been denied. He is now threatening legal action. There were reportedly more than 16,000 postal votes.
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| Galloway and his team at the count |
The importance of this by-election for the leadership of Keir Starmer couldn't be overstated. The man himself has clearly been up all night, tweeting within minutes of the declaration.
Starmer's assessment that Labour had faced off 'division' after their own divisive campaign literature exposed this week is a bit rich to say the least.
Turnout was 47.6 per cent, compared with 66.5 per cent for the 2019 general election.
Here's the result in full.
Batley & Spen 2021 by-election
Kim Leadbeater (Lab) 13,296 (35.2%) -7.5%
Ryan Stephenson (Con) 12,973 (34.3%) -1.7%
George Galloway (Workers) 8,264 (21.9%) New
Thomas Gordon (LDem) 1,254 (3.3%) -1.4%
Corey Robinson (Yorks) 816 (2.2%) New
Thérèse Hirst (Eng Dem) 207 (0.6%) New
Jack Thomson (UKIP) 151 (0.4%) New
Howling Laud Hope (Loony) 107 (0.3%) New
Mike Davies (Green Soc) 104 (0.3%) New
Paul Bickerdike (Christian) 102 (0.3%) New
Jonathan Tilt (Freedom) 100 (0.3%) New
Jonathan Tilt (Freedom) 100 (0.3%) New
Anne Marie Waters (For Britain) 97 (0.3%) New
Andrew Smith (Rejoin) 75 (0.2%) New
Oliver Purser (SDP) 66 (0.2%) New
Jayda Fransen (Ind) 50 (0.1%) New
Susan Laird (Heritage) 33 (0.1%) New
The Green Party and Reform UK (formerly the Brexit Party) did not contest this election. Labour had been defending a marginal 3,525 majority from the 2019 general election and have held the seat since 1997.
Batley & Spen, 2019 general election
Tracy Brabin (Lab) 22,594 (42.7%) -12.8%
Mark Brooks (Con) 19,069 (36.0%) -2.8%
Paul Halloran (Ind) 6,432 (12.2%) New
John Lawson (LDem) 2,462 (4.7%) +2.4%
Clive Minihan (Brexit) 1,678 (3.2%) New
Ty Akram (Green) 692 (1.3%) n/c