Labour wins Blackpool South by-election and Khan re-elected

The Labour Party has taken Blackpool South from the Conservatives in a by-election.

The result was a 26 per cent swing in favour of Labour, with Chris Webb taking the win. 

He overturned a majority of 3,690 to defeat Conservative David Jones in the constituency, which was previously held by Labour from 1997 to 2019.

The swing of 26 per cent from the Tories to Labour was the third biggest in a by-election since 1945.

Conservative Party chairman Richard Holden described the local election results so far as "disappointing" and said his party needed to start talking about their successes and "vision for the future".

Labour leader Keir Starmer said that the win has sent "a direct message" to prime minister Rishi Sunak that voters want change.

In terms of local election results, the Conservatives have suffered their worst loss in 40 years. Labour made strong gains in areas such as Hartlepool, Rushmoor, Hyndburn, Milton Keynes and Tamworth, where the Conservatives lost scores of council seats across the country including in some key general election seats.

Labour’s Sadiq Khan was re-elected for a historic third term as Mayor of London, beating Conservative candidate Susan Hall with a majority of around 275,000 votes.