The Labour party has held the City of Chester constituency, after its candidate Samantha Dixon secured a 10,974 majority in Thursday's by-election.
Dixon’s 61 per cent vote share is Labour’s best ever performance in the constituency, while for the Tories it was their worst in the area since 1832.
Conservative candidate Liz Wardlaw only returned 6,335 votes, a 22.4 per cent share of the vote.
In her victory speech, Dixon said that voters had sent a message to the Tories that they “no longer have a mandate to govern” and that they are “fed up” with a Conservative government.
She said: “I don't think they believe that the Conservatives have the answers, I think they think it's Labour's turn now.”
Labour’s increased majority brought about a 12 per cent swing in the votes, which – if repeated at the next general election – would be enough to win power according to pollster, John Curtice.
Curtice told the BBC that the Labour party was now “in a stronger position than they have been at any point in the last 12 years”, albeit the voting swing “wouldn’t produce an enormous majority” at a general election.
Curtice added: “(Prime minister) Rishi Sunak is being reminded by the voters of Chester he has quite a lot of work to do.”
It is the first by-election that the Tories have faced under Sunak’s leadership, after they’d conceded Wakefield and Tiverton & Honiton in recent polls under Boris Johnson.
At the 2019 general election, Labour won the seat by a 6,164 majority and were always expected to win this by-election.
The poll was triggered after Labour MP Christian Matheson stood down following his suspension from Parliament for serious sexual misconduct.
Photo by Tiffany Tertipes on Unsplash
The full results of the Chester by-election are as follows:
- Samantha Dixon – Labour: 17,309 votes (61.22 per cent)
- Liz Wardlaw – Conservative: 6,335 votes (22.40 per cent)
- Rob Herd - Liberal Democrats: 2,368 votes (8.37 per cent)
- Paul Bowers – Green Party: 787 votes (2.78 per cent)
- Jeanie Barton - Reform UK: 773 votes (2.73 per cent)
- Richard Hewison - Rejoin EU: 277 votes (0.98 per cent)
- Cain Griffiths – UKIP: 179 votes (0.63 per cent)
- Howling Laud Hope - Official Monster Raving Loony Party: 156 votes (0.55 per cent)
- Chris Quartermaine - Freedom Alliance: 91 votes (0.32 per cent)
