NHS worker Simon Lightwood has won the Wakefield by-election - marking a huge step forward in Labour's plans to win back its so called Red Wall.
Mr Lightwood won the by-election with 13,166 votes, stealing the seat back from the Conservatives who won it in the 2019 general election.
Speaking after the results, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said: “Wakefield has shown the country has lost confidence in the Tories. This result is a clear judgement on a Conservative Party that has run out of energy and ideas.
“Britain deserves better. Wakefield has voted Labour because we have the solutions for the challenges facing the British people.
“The Labour Party is back on the side of working people, winning seats where we lost before, and ready for government.”
This crunch by-election was triggered by the resignation of Tory MP Imran Ahmad Khan, who quit the party after being found guilty of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old boy.
Boris Johnson's loss in Wakefield, was declared just before 4am on Friday.
Ultimately, this by-election was seen as one of two tests of his recent performances, with the Tiverton & Honiton by-election representing the other test.
Simon Lightwood, Labour’s new MP for Wakefield told the Mirror on the campaign trail that he was keen to give Wakefield a voice.
He repeated his plans today, as he told reporters at the count: "People are tired of the lies, and tired of the deceit. We are rebuilding the Red Wall and Labour is pushing forward under Keir Starmer's leadership."
Labour needed a swing of 3.8 percentage points in the vote share, to overturn the Tories majority of 3,358.
Turnout in the Wakefield by-election was 39.09%, Wakefield Council said, with 27,205 verified ballots cast out of a total electorate of 69,601.
The turnout in the 2019 general election was 64.15%.
This astonishing defeat for the Tories comes hours after the Prime Minister said it would be “crazy” for him to quit if the party lost the two seats, and claimed he was “very hopeful” about the results.
But with results looking bleak for the Tories in Tiverton & Honiton, and the Tories having lost Wakefield, Mr Johnson’s premiership will come under huge pressure; even while he is in Kigali, Rwanda.
Labour party chief Mr Starmer had said a victory for candidate Simon Lightwood in the northern constituency “could be the birthplace of the next Labour government”.
Labour Party insiders had told the Mirror at the Wakefield count that Mr Starmer had not set expectations for the campaign team, apart from to win the seat back.
Last week, Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham told the Mirror if Labour won Wakefield, it would mark a “very big step” in showing the party can rebuild its so called Red Wall.
But Mr Burnham noted there is still a lot of work to be done within the party, to prove to voters in the North that the party is not still so “London centric”.
Before the votes were counter, Shabana Mahmood, Labour’s national campaign coordinator, said: “Labour has run positive campaigns with fantastic candidates in both by-elections – but we know that taking the seats requires many Tory voters to switch to Labour, which is harder in by-elections where low turnout is commonplace.
“Wakefield has been a marginal constituency since Labour last won a general election, and the Conservatives hold the seat with the biggest majority since 2010 – making this an uphill task.”
