Boris Johnson can breathe a sign of relief this morning after the Conservatives held Old Bexley and Sidcup. In a by-election triggered by the death of the former MP and cabinet minister James Brokenshire, Tory candidate Louie French won over 50 per cent of the vote, with Labour coming in second. However, despite this victory, the Tory majority has been reduced from 19,000 to 4,478.
Even taking into account the reduced turn out, the Tory vote share has fallen
Both the Tories and Labour are claiming the result as a success this morning – with members of the shadow cabinet pointing to the swing towards Labour as proof they are back in business. Meanwhile, Tory MPs say that the percentage of the vote is the thing to focus on – citing it as a strong result for a government mid term.
So what’s behind the reduced majority? On first inspection, there appear to be several factors at play.
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