The opposition Labour Party overturned a huge Conservative majority to win the parliamentary seat of Tamworth, boosting leader Keir Starmer’s hopes of becoming prime minister in a UK vote expected next year.
Sarah Edwards was elected the Member of Parliament for Tamworth — a town northeast of Birmingham, the UK’s second-biggest city — winning 11,719 votes, ahead of Conservative Andrew Cooper on 10,403 votes, according to Press Association.
“This is a phenomenal result that shows Labour is back in the service of working people and redrawing the political map,” Starmer said, according to the news outlet. “To those who have given us their trust, and those considering doing so, Labour will spend every day acting in your interests and focused on your priorities. Labour will give Britain its future back.”
Labour had played down its chances, given the Tory majority of almost 20,000 votes when the seat was last contested in 2019. Starmer’s party needed a 21.4-point swing from the Tories to take Tamworth — just under the 23.7-point swing it recorded when winning Selby and Ainsty in a by-election in July.
It will be viewed as a major step toward Labour ousting the Conservatives from power for the first time since 2010. The shift in vote share will be the ultimate guide as to how the parties fared in Tamworth as they build toward a UK vote.
The result of a separate by-election in Mid Bedfordshire, a mix of villages and towns north of London, was also expected in the early hours of Friday.
Meanwhile Sunak’s team will likely try to lessen the significance of the result, insisting that mid-term elections are often difficult for governing parties. The Tories trail Labour by about 20 percentage points in national polls, and had hoped to hold onto the seat in order to halt Starmer’s momentum.
The Tamworth election was called after former MP Chris Pincher stood down following allegations last year that he had groped two men. Boris Johnson’s efforts to defend Pincher, who was then a government minister, triggered a backlash that was a major part of the former premier’s downfall.