Labour pulls off historic win in Selby and Ainsty as MP, 25, gains seat
Labour has pulled off a record breaking by-election win by overturning a massive 20,000-strong Tory majority in Yorkshire.
Keir Mather, 25, will become the youngest MP in the Commons after sweeping to victory in Selby and Ainsty.
He picked up over 4,000 more votes than Tory counterpart Claire Holmes - the biggest majority Labour has ever turned around in its history.
It is a hammer blow to Rishi Sunak, just hours after the Lib Dems pulled off a stunning turnaround in Somerton and Frome.
Mr Mather said in his victory speech: "In this campaign we've rewritten the rules on where Labour can win."
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He continued: "The people of Selby & Ainsty have sent a clear message. For too long, Conservatives up here and in Westminster have failed us, and today that changes.
"Over the past few months, speaking to hundreds of people on the doorstep, I've encountered so much hardship. Hardship made worse by 13 years of negligence and complacency from the Conservatives."
Keir Mather said the by-election had 're-written the rules' on where Labour can win (Getty Images)Labour leader Keir Starmer said: “This is a historic result that shows that people are looking at Labour and seeing a changed party that is focused entirely on the priorities of working people with an ambitious, practical plan to deliver.
“Keir Mather will be a fantastic MP who will deliver the fresh start Selby and Ainsty deserves.
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“It is clear just how powerful the demand for change is. Voters put their trust in us — many for the first time. After 13 years of Tory chaos, only Labour can give the country its hope, its optimism and its future back.”
The by-election was triggered by the resignation of Tory MP Nigel Adams, who is claimed to have quit in a strop after being denied a peerage in Boris Johnson's resignation honours.
The Yorkshire seat, which has been Tory since it was created in a boundary reform in 2010, had a massive Conservative majority of 20,137 in the 2019 election.
The former PM is said to have promised Mr Adams a peerage in his resignation honours, but when the list was published, gong came there none. Mr Adams followed his former leader out of Parliament, quitting the Commons after 13 years.
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Earlier Conservative MP Andrew Jones said the result in Selby and Ainsty would be "close".
He told BBC Newsnight: "Well, who knows? We think it's going to be very close." He said it felt like an "individual" by-election, as he hinted at frustration on the doors over the decision of Nigel Adams to quit as an MP and trigger a poll.
"This has felt more local, more personal. I think that's been caused by the reason the by-election is taking place, but I think it'll be close."
Nigel Adams stepped down as an MP on the same day as Boris Johnson (Getty Images)He also urged colleagues to get behind Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in the wake of the by-elections.
"I think the public know full well that the nation is facing challenging times and internationally these are challenging times.
"So I think the message would be, we've just got to get our head down, work and get through this period.
"I've not felt any sense that the Labour Party was pulling people into them. I've sensed a sense of frustration, frustration particularly in the cause of this by-election.
"The sitting MP walking away has been a sense of disappointment and that's putting it quite mildly."
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