Batley and Spen by-election: relief for Starmer but the reality of the result is more complicated | Politics News

The Labor Party confused expectations and clung to its constituency of Batley and Spen.

Kim Leadbeater, sister of assassinated former MP Jo Cox, won by the thin margin of only 323 votes.

Many believed the siege would go in the same direction as Hartlepool, lost to the Tories in early May.

The result was tight with requests for a recount of the beams of votes extending the tally, with the final result being declared at 5:25 am.

The title is “Keeping Work” and thus the pressure on party leader Sir Keir Starmer is relieved.

The chief’s office will indicate expectations of defeat and present the result as a triumph. Conservative momentum has been curbed, cracks in government will give Labor new opportunities to overcome their current deficit in the polls.

The reality is however somewhat different.

A Labor majority of 3,525 votes has been reduced by ten times. Labor’s share of the vote fell to 35.3%, a drop of seven percentage points from the last general election and a drop of 20 points since the 2017 election.

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The Conservative vote also fell, but only 1.6 points. The oscillation was 2.9% of the work at the curator.

Labor’s share of the vote has plummeted in the last 12 parliamentary by-elections. There may not be a challenge to Sir Keir’s leadership, but Labor remains in crisis management mode.

The result then is all about managing expectations.

The Tories will be seen as failing to win despite the party’s current lead over Labor in opinion polls. His momentum since his victory at Hartlepool in early May was verified first by his own loss to the Lib Dems at Chesham and Amersham a month later and now by disappointment at Batley and Spen.

Let us not forget that the parties in power rarely win seats in the by-elections of the …