Labour's Kim Leadbeater wins Batley & Spen by-election
The by-election was triggered after Tracy Brabin was elected West Yorkshire's first ever Mayor
Last updated 2nd Jul 2021
Labour's Kim Leabeater has won the Batley & Spen by-election - by just over 300 votes.
The declaration was made at Cathedral House in Huddersfield just before 5.30am this morning.
The Conservative's Ryan Stephenson finished second - gaining 34.4% of the vote. Labour edged them to victory, achieving 35.3%.
Here are the results in full:
- Kim Leadbeater (Lab) 13,296 (35.27%)
- Ryan Stephenson (C) 12,973 (34.42%)
- George Galloway (WP) 8,264 (21.92%)
- Thomas Gordon (LD) 1,254 (3.33%)
The by-election was triggered after Tracy Brabin, who won the seat for Labour in 2019 with a 3,525 majority over the Conservatives, was elected as the mayor of West Yorkshire in May.
The by-election was predicted to have big political ramifications nationally, with Labour party leader Sir Kier Starmer's position in doubt after a disastrous set of local election results earlier this year.
Here's the moment Ms Leabeater took the stage to make her victory speech:
The West Yorkshire constituency has voted Labour since 1997, but the result this morning comes as a surprise to many - after a Survation poll published last week put the Tories on 47%, up 11% from the 2019 general election, while Labour was on 43%.
It's a poignant win for Kim Leadbeater, who's sister Jo Cox was murdered in the Batley & Spen constituency in 2016.
Jo's widowed husband, Brendan Cox, was quick to tweet one of his wife's most famous quotes:
George Galloway, who came third in the contest, said he would apply to have the result set aside by the courts.
Speaking outside the count, he said his election effort had been damaged by a "false statement" that he had laughed while Labour's Kim Leadbeater was abused on the campaign trail.