West Lancashire by-election: Ashley Dalton easily holds seat for Labouron February 10, 2023 at 8:46 am

Labour’s Ashley Dalton eased to victory in the West Lancashire by-election.

Part-time charity worker Ms Dalton secured a 10.5% swing from the Tories to secure a 8,326 majority.

The vote was triggered when Labour veteran Rosie Cooper, who represented the seat for 17 years, resigned to take up a senior leadership role in the NHS.

In her victory speech, Ms Dalton said voters had sent a clear message to the Conservative government that they “do not have confidence in them to govern”.

“Rishi Sunak’s Conservatives no longer have a mandate to govern,” she added.

“His government has no ideas, no plan to address the big issues facing our country and the voters have sent a message to the prime minister – your government is failing British people.

“Move out of the way. Let Labour take over and it’s time for a general election.”

Analysis

By Mike Stevens, BBC Radio Lancashire political reporter

It comes as no great surprise that Labour comfortably held on to this heartland seat – nestled perfectly between Merseyside, Greater Manchester and the rest of Lancashire.

The outcome mirrors the party’s December by-election victories in Chester and Stretford and Urmston.

This Westminster constituency was created in 1983 following a boundaries review. While its first MP was Conservative Ken Hind, the seat has been held for more than 30 years by Labour.

Labour will have been boosted by the 10.5% swing from the Tories, with its new MP Ashley Dalton saying constituents had sent a clear message to the government that they “do not have confidence in them to govern”.

Labour achieved a 10.5% swing from the Tories to maintain its majority of more than 8,000 as fewer than one in three eligible voters turned out in the bitterly cold conditions.

The Liberal Democrats finished fourth behind Reform UK (formerly the Brexit Party).

Ms Dalton had twice unsuccessfully campaigned to become an MP, losing in Rochford and Southend East.

Conservative candidate Mike Prendergast was formerly the Tory group leader on nearby Sefton Council.

Paula Keaveney, a politics lecturer at Edge Hill University which lies within the constituency, said it was “a terrible result for the Conservatives – they would have wanted to maintain their vote share from the general election and they failed to do so.

“I think there is a sense among voters here that, perhaps, the Conservatives have had a long time in government and things aren’t going so well for them.

“This is three bad by-election results on the trot now in the North West.”

By-election results in full:

Turnout: 31.3%; Swing: 10.5% from Conservative to Labour

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