Labour holds on to Batley and Spen – here’s how key figures have reacted

The Labour Party has narrowly won the Batley and Spen by-election, with Kim Leadbeater beating the Conservative challenger by 323 votes.

The result was a shock for pundits and parties alike, as previous polls had suggested the Tories, represented by Ryan Stephenson, would win.

Hot takes explaining the outcome are already flying, as Labour pat themselves on the back and their main rivals regroup, embarrassed.

Here’s how key players have reacted:

Kim Leadbeater

Speaking at the count, the newly elected MP choked back tears as she found out she had won. “I will do my very best to represent the whole of Batley and Spen as their new MP,” she said. “I’m absolutely delighted that the people of Batley and Spen have rejected division and they’ve voted for hope.”

Leadbeater’s seat was previously held by her sister, Jo Cox, who was murdered in 2016 by the far-right Thomas Mair.

She told Sky News: “If I can be half the MP that Jo was then I’ll be very very happy.”

Brendan Cox, Jo Cox’s widower tweeted:

Sir Keir Starmer

In a statement, the Labour leader celebrated Leadbeater’s success. Had Labour lost another by-election in a Northern constituency, there were expectations he would face a leadership challenge.

He said: “This is a fantastic result for the brilliant and brave Kim Leadbeater who will be an incredible Labour MP for Batley and Spen.

“Kim has shown inspiring resilience in the face of hatred and intimidation. She was unafraid to call it out and ran a positive campaign of hope. Kim embodies everything I want the Labour Party to stand for: passionate about her local community and determined to bring people together.

“We won this election against the odds, and we did so by showing that when we are true to our values - decency, honesty, committed to improving lives - then Labour can win.

“This result shows Labour at its best. This is just the start.”

George Galloway

It was expected that Galloway would take votes from the Labour Party and endanger their electoral success given his popularity with the sizeable Asian community in the constituency. He came third, with 8,264 votes.

Speaking this morning, the Workers Party leader said he would challenge the election result in court:

Jeremy Corbyn

The former Labour leader also took to Twitter to celebrate the result:

Jayda Fransen

After receiving just 46 votes when she naively stood against Nicola Sturgeon in Glasgow Southside in May, the former Britain First leader dusted herself off and zipped down to Yorkshire for the Batley and Spen election.

But Fransen, who Sturgeon called a “fascist racist” on the campaign trail, did not fare much better in Yorkshire. She won just 50 votes, and people predictably found her electoral failure thoroughly amusing:

Doubtlessly, she will turn up at another by-election when she gets the chance.

Matt Hancock

Some have suggested that Matt Hancock’s affair influenced the election. Conservative peer Lord Hayward said it could have been a factor:

Conservative Party chair Amanda Milling said: “It was something that came up on the doorstep – I have to be honest about that.”

Turnout was 47.6 per cent, lower than was expected.

Here’s the full list of results:

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%)

Corey Robinson (Yorkshire) 816 (2.16%)

Therese Hirst (Eng Dem) 207 (0.55%)

Jack Thomson (UKIP) 151 (0.40%)

Howling Laud Hope (Loony) 107 (0.28%)

Mike Davies (Green Soc) 104 (0.28%)

Paul Bickerdike (CPA) 102 (0.27%)

Jonathan Tilt (FA) 100 (0.27%)

Anne Marie Waters (FB) 97 (0.26%)

Andrew Smith (Rejoin) 75 (0.20%)

Oliver Purser (Soc Dem) 66 (0.18%)

Jayda Fransen (Ind) 50 (0.13%)

Susan Laird (Heritage) 33 (0.09%)

Lab majority 323 (0.86%)

Electorate 79,373; Turnout 37,695 (47.49%)