Labour has won the Oldham West and Royton by-election. Jim McMahon has returned the seat with a 10,835 majority, down from 14,738 in May’s general election. Although there were some wobbles during the short campaign, it appears Labour has put in a very good performance, increasing its vote share by seven per cent, while Ukip has again come a distant second.
Labour can attribute much of its successful to a solid local candidate, Jim McMahon, The higher than expected turnout of 40.26 per cent (two thirds of May's general election) has definitely helped Labour. Here are the results:
Labour: 62 per cent (+7.3%) - 17,322Â votes
Ukip: 23 per cent (+2.7%) - 6,487Â votes
Conservative: 9 per cent (-9.7%) - 2,596 votes
Lib Dem: 4 per cent (no change) - 1,024 votes
Green: 2 per cent (-1%) - 249Â votes
Although Ukip was hopeful of taking the seat, the party never truly believed it could win – insiders often described it as a ‘tough nut to crack’.