Kim Leadbeater defeats Tory Ryan Stephenson by a margin of 323 votes, while George Galloway comes third
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Starmer said Leadbeater had won the seat because “former Tory voters voted for her”.
He said:
The left vote, if you like, the Labour vote, was split, but we won. The Tories had a clean hit, nobody was going against them, and they didn’t win.
They expected to win this, make no mistake about that.
My message is, when the Labour Party sticks to its core values, is rooted in its communities and pulls together, we can win just as we have won here.
This is the start. Labour is back.
Starmer has been making great play of the tone of the campaigning he says Labour’s opponents adopted, telling Sky News just now:
I think people are getting fed up with the politics of misinformation, half-truths, untruths and division. And what they want is what Kim can give them, which is positivity, which is bringing communities together.
I think people are beginning to see that there is a gulf of difference between integrity, honesty and bringing people together and the politics of division, of hatred, dividing everybody and mistruths and half truths. And Kim epitomises that.
I feel very good that all I’ve had all morning is calls and texts and messages from across the country of people wanting unity and the values that Kim has put on show here that are her values to her core, that have triumphed. I think that’s a moment of real unity for the Labour Party, for Batley and Spen, but across the country. People are yearning for people like Kim and a Labour party and leaders that can pull people together.
When the Labour party sticks to its core values, is rooted in its communities and pulls together, we can win just as we’ve won here. This is the start. Labour is back.
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