LABOUR GAIN BLACKPOOL SOUTH

Chris Webb is the new MP for Blackpool South

Labour have taken another Westminster seat from the Conservatives with a huge swing in Blackpool South.  It was a tough ask for the Tories to hold here - they were defending a marginal 3,690 majority from 2019 - but the scale of the defeat was stark.  The swing to Labour was 26.3 per cent and gave new Labour MP Chris Webb a 7,607 majority he would expect to easily defend in the forthcoming general election.

The seat had been vacated by Scott Benton after he was caught out in an undercover sting by reporters from The Times.  As a result he lost the Tory whip and was suspended from the Commons, triggering a recall petition.  With the writing on the wall, Benton chose to resign rather than face the result of the petition.  He had gained Blackpool South in 2019, a seat that had been held by Labour since 1997.

His successor in Blackpool South is a rarity among the Westminster gravy train - Chris Webb is actually born and bred in the town he now represents.  He is a university graduate, which seems to be the norm for Labour these days, and had previously stood for Westminster in 2017 and 2019.  He was runner-up on both occasions, losing out to the sitting Tory for Blackpool North and Cleveleys.

In Blackpool South there was a very strong show for Reform UK, who easily held on to their deposit and almost pipped the Tories for second place.

Turnout was 32.5 per cent.  This is lower than one might expect, but as there were no council elections taking place in Blackpool overnight, perhaps no great surprise.

Blackpool South Parliamentary By-Election

Chris Webb (Lab) 10,825 (58.7%) +20.4%

David Jones (Con) 3,218 (17.4%) -32.2%

Mark Butcher (RefUK) 3,101 (16.8%) +10.7%

Andrew Cregan (LDem) 387 (2.1%) -1.0%

Ben Thomas (Grn) 368 (2.0%) +0.3%

Stephen Black (Ind) 163 (0.9%) New

Kim Knight (ADF) 147 (0.8%) New

Howling Laud Hope (Loon) 121 (0.7%) New

Damon Sharp (NonP) 45 (0.2%) New

Lab GAIN from Con

Abbreviations

Lab = Labour

Con = Conservative

RefUK = Reform UK

LDem = Liberal Democrat

Grn = Green

Ind = Independent

ADF = Alliance for Democracy and Freedom

Loon = Monster Raving Loony

NonP = New Open Non-Political Organised Leadership