Sir Keir Starmer received a major boost after overturning a huge Tory majority in the Tamworth by-election.
In the Tories’ biggest loss to Labour in by-election history, Sir Keir’s party won the Staffordshire seat from the Conservatives. The Tories won the seat in 2019 with a 19,634 majority.
In a blow for Rishi Sunak, support for the Conservatives evaporated, with the seat turning red for the first time since it was won by David Cameron in 2010.
Labour’s candidate in Tamworth Sarah Edwards had likened the race to a 1996 by-election in which Labour gained the seat, a year before Tony Blair’s general election landslide.
Days before polls opened, it emerged the Conservative candidate in Tamworth had suggested some parents using food banks to feed their children should “f*** off”.
Andrew Cooper shared a post on Facebook arguing that people should only seek help if they give up basics like TV and mobile phone contracts, the Mirror reported.
Ms Edwards won the seat with a total of 11,719 votes, compared with Mr Cooper’s 10,403 votes.
Following the announcement of the results, Ms Cooper said the people of Tamworth “have made it clear it’s time for change”.
Ms Edwards will replace Chris Pincher, who represented Tamworth since 2010 and stood down after being found to have drunkenly groped two men in an “egregious case of sexual misconduct” at London’s exclusive Carlton Club last year.
Labour said winning either Tamworth or Mid Bedfordshire, Nadine Dorries’s former seat, would be a “moon shot”.