The British Labour Party has won the first byelection since last year’s general election in the Oldham East and Saddleworth constituency in the north of England in a result that raises serious questions for Conservative prime minister David Cameron.
Labour’s Debbie Abrahams took 14,718 votes, over 3,500 more than the Liberal Democrats’ candidate, Elwyn Watkins, who was beaten by just 113 votes last May by Labour’s Phil Woolas, though Woolas was later ejected from his seat by court judges.
However, the disappointing result for the Conservative candidate, Rashif Ali, who received just 4,481 votes, will strengthen Mr Cameron’s party critics, who have argued that the Conservatives failed to throw their weight behind Mr Ali because they wanted the Liberal Democrats to win.
In her victory speech, Ms Abrahams said Oldham East and Saddleworth had delivered a message to Mr Cameron and Liberal Democrat leader, Mr Nick Clegg that they had "cutting too much and too fast".
The Labour victory came less than 12 hours after Greater Manchester Council, which is responsible for Oldham, announced that it would cut nearly 20 per cent of its staff over the next year, in an attempt to keep inside reduced Whitehall spending pledges.
Delighted by the victory, Labour's shadow education secretary, Mr Andy Burnham, said it marked "the first step" in rebuilding the party after last year's election defeat: "I know it is going to be a long road, but it is the first step," he told The Irish Times.
Despite losing, Liberal Democrats early today were clearly pleased the party had done as well as it had, given all of the criticism that they have taken since entering power - particularly over raising college tuition fees.
Liberal Democrats ministers are to meet in London this afternoon to review the result, which saw the party’s voting share fall by 14 per cent. In the past, the party has had an enviable record in winning byelection seats.
While Labour received 42 per cent of the vote, its majority is still lower than it enjoyed in 2001 and 2005, though Mr Burnham insisted that Oldham East and Saddleworth has always been a difficult fight: “Even in 1997, Labour’s majority here was just 3,000.”
