By-election results from Rotherham, Corby North and Middlesbrough
By-election results: Labour manage to hold all three seats, Tory and Liberal Democrat vote collapse and UKIP comes 2nd in two seats and third in another
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/da...thern-england/
UKIP is now the main opposition to Labour in northern England
Quote:
Originally Posted by Daniel Hannan, the Telegraph
What does Labour have to do to lose a seat like Rotherham? The previous MP, Denis MacShane, resigned after obtaining public money by deceit – a far worse case of malfeasance than many which attracted heavier opprobrium during the expenses revelations. The candidate chosen to select him, Sarah Champion, was imposed by the NEC, prompting half the local party to walk out in protest. The council's inactivity over child grooming cases was juxtaposed with its unbelievable removal of foster children from UKIP-voting parents.
And yet, even in a by-election, even when there was no chance of changing the government, even when they might have painlessly signalled that they were sick of being taken for granted, the townsfolk plodded out to give MacShane's party a massive majority.
People are forever complaining that MPs take their voters for granted; but can you blame them? The solution, as I never tire of arguing, is open primaries. In the mean time, though, I don't want to hear any Rotherham Labour voters moaning about the arrogance of the political class.
Labour had a good night in all three seats. Of the other parties, only UKIP has cause to celebrate. No so much because of its strong second place in Rotherham, but because it also came second in Middlesborough, where there were no special circumstances, as well as a respectable third in Croydon. In each of the three by-elections, UKIP easily beat the LibDems – as, indeed, it did in the police elections and the Corby by-election a couple of weeks ago, and as it tends to do in opinion polls. For how much longer will commentators be able to refer to Nick Clegg as leader of our third party?
As the LibDems crumble, especially in the northern cities where the Conservatives have little presence, UKIP is becoming the main anti-Labour alternative. On any rational analysis, the case for a Tory-UKIP pact, based on an In/Out referendum, is now unarguable. My party could, with good conscience, stand aside in many of the seats we currently don't hold in exchange for clear run in the seats we are likely to win.
The main objection to such a deal used to be that UKIP was likely to do best in the seats where the Conservatives were strongest, but that argument no longer works. UKIP has come second in Barnsley, Middlesborough and Rotherham – a feat that Nigel Farage himself couldn't manage in Buckingham. Yet, as the logic pulls one way, the emotions in both parties pull the other. Hence the looming tragedy – for both parties and for the Eurosceptic cause – of the 2015 elections.
Congratulations and thanks to all the candidates. It is no small thing, especially in the current climate, to put yourself forward for election. Whatever your result, you should be proud of yourself for standing.
I've even made a lovely little chart which you can open up for comparisons to the 2010 results.
Labour managed to hold all the seats (all three are Labour strongholds), UKIP came 2nd in two and 3rd in another (it's best ever election result recorded in Rotherham) and the Tories and Liberal Democrats had an absolutely terrible night.
I watched the Sky interview with Jane Collins though, and the reporter asked "Where do UKIP go from here?"
....and she replied "Up." - a nice note to end the night on. :P
Thoughts?
