Labour surprised as Tories win Copeland by-election
The Labour party has lost the Copeland by-election by over 2,000 votes to the Conservative party, losing a seat it has held for over 80 years.
Conservative candidate Trudy Harrison received 13,748 votes, as opposed to Labour's Gillian Troughton's 11,601, heralding a ‘truly historic event’, with the win representing the first by-election gain by a governing party since 1982.
The by-election, bought about by the resignation of former frontbencher Jamie Reed, saw Harrison joined by Prime Minister Theresa May during her campaigning and resulted in an eight per cent increase in the Conservative vote share.
Meanwhile, Gareth Snell held Labour's seat in Stoke-on-Trent Central region with 7,853 votes, defeating the challenge of new UKIP leader Paul Nuttall, who received 5,233. The by-election was the result of the resignation of Tristram Hunt from Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn’s cabinet.
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