Triumphant return for previously ousted Labour MP in Redcar
Labour’s Anna Turley has made a triumphant return to frontline politics after being re-elected as Redcar MP five years after defeat in the last General Election.
Ms Turley secured 41% of the vote in the Parliamentary constituency, with 15,663 votes to Conservative incumbent Jacob Young’s 12,340 votes, a 3,323 majority.
Mr Young, who ousted Ms Turley in 2019, saw his previous 3,527 majority overturned with the result which was a swing of 9.8%.
Another big winner was Reform UK with its candidate John Davies picking up 7,216 votes – an 18.8% share, which left the Liberal Democrats’ Chris Jones trailing in fourth with only 1,542 votes.
Labour had been confident of winning back Redcar with Ms Turley arriving at the count at Redcar Leisure Centre to loud applause, shortly before the result was announced by Redcar and Cleveland Mayor Councillor Neil Bendelow.
In her victory speech Ms Turley praised her “amazing team” and Labour members and activists locally who had “worked so hard” to help her get re-elected.
She said: “Most importantly of all I want to thank the people of Redcar and Cleveland who have put their trust in me.
“It was the honour of my life to serve you before and to have the chance to serve you again is completely humbling.”
She described how some people had lost their faith in politics altogether and it could still be a “force for good”.
Ms Turley said: “I promise to work tirelessly to deliver for you.
“Things can and will get better.”
She listed the party’s priorities which included safer streets, getting the NHS back on its feet, securing UK borders and providing the best opportunities for children and young people so they were not held back by the start they had in life.
She also said Labour planned to be at the service of the British public and “turn a page on the chaos” of the outgoing Conservative Government.
Ms Turley was selected from an all-female shortlist to contest the Redcar seat for Labour in 2015 and succeeded the Liberal Democrats’ Ian Swales, before being re-elected again two years later, taking more than half the share of the vote.
She was a prominent campaigner in the fight to save the former SSI steelworks, helping secure funding for a local task force to support redundant workers, and introduced a successful private members’ bill to increase the maximum sentences available to the courts for animal cruelty following an incident in Redcar in which yobs threw a dog down a flight of stairs.
Ms Turley, who is originally from Dartford, Kent and a former Oxford University graduate, worked as a special advisor in the Department for Work and Pensions and the Cabinet Office before moving into PR, local Government and public policy research.
More recently she has chaired the North East Poverty Commission.
Mr Young, who only served one Parliamentary term, also said it was the “honour of his life” to have served residents of Redcar and Cleveland during his tenure.
He said: “Over the last few years together we have faced the challenges of a pandemic, a sharp rise in energy prices, war in Eastern Europe and in the Middle East.”
Mr Young, who previously worked in the local chemical industry and was a councillor in Coulby Newham, Middlesbrough, suggested he did not expect to win in 2019 and he had been proud of what he had achieved during his time as a MP, wishing Ms Turley “all the very best”.
Reform UK candidate John Davies also congratulated Ms Turley from the stage and said “second chances in politics are very rare”.
He also thanked his supporters and hailed the result the party achieved.
Mr Davies said: “The people of Redcar and Cleveland deserve better than what we have at this moment.”
He also said the party was “just getting started”.
Turnout in the constituency was 54.38%, down on the 2019 figure of 62.2%.
The full result was Anna Turley (Labour) 15,663 votes (41% share); Jacob Young (Conservative) 12,340 (32.30%); John Davies (Reform) 7,216 (18.89%); Chris Jones (Liberal Democrat) 1,542 (4.04%); Ruth Hatton (Green Party) 1,270 (3.32%); Gary Conlin (Social Democratic Party) 169 (0.44%).