Keir Starmer ran into some public dissent over the weekend in a Wakefield walkabout ahead of Thursday's parliamentary by-election. Embarrassingly for the Labour leader, a film crew from the Daily Telegraph were on hand to record the incident. As Starmer walks alongside the party's candidate, a man can be heard shouting "Don't vote for him, he's a tosser". It's not clear if the jibe was directed at Starmer or his candidate.
Click below for the video.
Voters go to the polls in two big by-elections this Thursday, both Conservative defences and both brought about because of disgraced Tory MPs.
In Wakefield Labour are firm favourites to retake the seat after the incumbent was convicted of sexual assault on a 15-year-old boy. The Tories had taken the seat from Labour in 2019, making Imran Khan the first Conservative MP for Wakefield since 1931. The Tories have chosen another Muslim candidate to defend the seat, local councillor Nadeem Ahmed. Meanwhile, Labour have been accused of parachuting an outsider into the constituency. Simon Lightwood is from South Shields - 107 miles north of Wakefield. It's a packed ballot paper for the by-election, with 15 candidates in total.
Wakefield general election 2019 result
Imran Khan (Con) 21,283 (47.3%) +2.3%
Mary Creagh (Lab) 17,925 (39.8%) –9.9%
Peter Wiltshire (Brexit) 2,725 (6.1%) New
Jamie Needle (LDem) 1,772 (3.9%) +1.9%
Ryan Kett (Yorks) 868 (1.9%) -0.6%
Stephen Whyte (Ind) 454 (1.0%) New
In Tiverton and Honiton it's the Lib Dems who are favourites to beat the Tories, despite coming third in 2019. Labour have taken a step back from campaigning in order to give the Lib Dems the best possible chance of taking the seat. If the Conservatives lose Tiverton it will be a huge blow, more so than Wakefield, because they are defending a much larger majority of 24,239.
The seat was vacated after the incumbent, Neil Parish, was found to have viewed pornography on his phone while in the Commons chamber. The Tories have chosen a local candidate by the name of Helen Hurford, a former headteacher who now runs a beauty salon. The Lib Dems are throwing the kitchen sink at this by-election and have selected ex-squaddie Richard Foord, who is from the village of Uffculme to the east of Tiverton.
Tiverton & Honiton general election 2019 result
Neil Parish (Con) 35,893 (60.2%) –1.2%
Liz Pole (Lab) 11,654 (19.5%) –7.6%
John Timperley (LDem) 8,807 (14.8%) +6.8%
Colin Reed (Grn) 2,291 (3.8%) +0.3%
Margaret Dennis (UKIP) 968 (1.6%) New
We'll publish the results on this website as soon as they are available.
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