After the result, the spin. We got the first drafts of each party’s response to the Oldham
by-election in the dark hours of this morning – but the picture is solidifying now that the sun has risen. What’s clear is that both Labour and the Lib Dems are having an easier time putting
on a united front than the Tories. The Labour response was typified by Yvette Cooper’s appearance on the Today
Programme earlier. She broadcast the message that her party would have broadcast whatever the result: that this is defining proof that the public doesn’t back the coalition and its economic policy.
And as for the Lib Dems, they’re all chirping the same lyric of, “Oh, well, yes, we did alright, really, given the circumstances.”
But it’s a little trickier for the Tories. While it’s not too surprising that their vote share plummeted in a by-election that was so often advertised as red vs yellow, it still fuels that idea that they didn’t do their utmost to pick up votes on the campaign trail.
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