Labour has won the Oldham West and Royton by-election. Jim McMahon has returned the seat with a 10,835 majority, down from 14,738 in May’s general election. Although there were some wobbles during the short campaign, it appears Labour has put in a very good performance, increasing its vote share by seven per cent, while Ukip has again come a distant second.
Labour can attribute much of its successful to a solid local candidate, Jim McMahon, The higher than expected turnout of 40.26 per cent (two thirds of May’s general election) has definitely helped Labour. Here are the results:
- Labour: 62 per cent (+7.3%) – 17,322 votes
- Ukip: 23 per cent (+2.7%) – 6,487 votes
- Conservative: 9 per cent (-9.7%) – 2,596 votes
- Lib Dem: 4 per cent (no change) – 1,024 votes
- Green: 2 per cent (-1%) – 249 votes
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Owen Matthews
Why Russia should agree to a ceasefire – and five reasons Putin might not
Although Ukip was hopeful of taking the seat, the party never truly believed it could win – insiders often described it as a ‘tough nut to crack’.
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