While the Tories are taking a public beating for their performance in Eastleigh, Labour also have little to be proud of. Despite the party currently floating around 11 points ahead of the Tories in the national polls, they only managed to add 0.2 points to their 2010 general election result and came in fourth place. Their candidate John O’Farrell blames voters being anti-politics, not anti-Labour.
Either way, the result is disappointing for Ed Miliband. Although it was unlikely Labour would ever take the seat, the party still threw its weight behind a full campaign. Lord Ashcroft’s latest polling suggests Labour were putting in similar effort to the main contenders. 89 per cent of residents stated they had received leaflets from Labour, compared to 96 per cent for the Lib Dems and 95 per cent for the Tories. 37 per cent said Labour had knocked on their door, compared to 54 per cent for the Lib Dems and 45 per cent for the Tories.
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