Labour’s victorious by-election candidate claimed that voters have given up on the Tories after he won the Stretford and Urmston by-election. Andrew Western, Labour’s leader of Trafford Council and now the new MP, said his victory showed people are fed up with the Conservative Party and Labour is ready to govern.
Mr Western won the Stretford and Urmston constituency, a safe Labour seat in Greater Manchester, with a majority of 9,906, securing 69.65% of the votes, up 9.34% on the snap general election three years ago, and with a 10.5% swing from Conservatives to Labour.
But the turnout was just 25.8% on a freezing cold day in south Manchester, with temperatures dipping to minus six centigrade, before polls closed. Problems with postal votes may also have hit the turnout.
