Batley and Spen: what bitter UK by-election won by sister of murdered MP tells us about state of British politics

By Parveen Akhtar, Lecturer in Political Science, Aston Centre for Europe, Aston University

The Batley and Spen by-election was a close contest that went right down to the wire with few commentators risking calling the result before it was announced. At 5:25am it was declared. Kim Leadbeater was the new Labour MP for Batley and Spen, beating her nearest rival, the Conservative candidate Ryan Stephenson, by 323 votes. It was close but a clear victory for Labour.

Leadbeater’s acceptance speech was always going to be poignant.…

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