Labor improves its position in the English city of Chester, with 61% of the vote
The British Labor Party retained the parliamentary seat in the English city of Chester on Thursday, with 61% of the votes, in the first by-election faced by Rishi Sunak since he became head of government at the end of October. The victory of Samantha Dixon, who led the Labor group in the City Council of this square in the northwest of England, confirms the recovery of the center-left formation since the electoral catastrophe of 2019 and the progressive collapse of the Conservatives after twelve years at the helm of the United Kingdom.
Dixon improved the party’s position in Chester despite the adverse circumstances of the by-election, which was forced by the resignation of the previous Labor MP due to allegations of sexual abuse. But pressing national problems – notably the cost-of-living crisis – focused the attention of voters, highlighting that “they are fed up with the Tory mandate and want the change that Labor offers”, according to the new MP. .
There was a transfer of support of 13.8% from the government formation to the opposition and a majority of almost 11,000 votes, greater than that harvested by Labor in 2019. The participation was 40.8%, within the usual level in this type of partial contexts that, moreover, coincided with the soccer world cup. The swing of the pendulum is, however, less than that recorded in by-elections in the years leading up to the previous massive Labor victory, with Tony Blair at the helm in 1997.
Chester’s results reflect the favorable trend towards the formation of Starmer, which is reflected in opinion polls in the last year. “It is clearly dangerous terrain for conservatives,” has assessed James Johnson, former prime minister Theresa May’s advisor on voting intention analysis. Stathclyde University professor and expert on the subject, John Curtice, agrees that past experience suggests that the Conservatives are headed for a national defeat in the winter 2024 legislative elections.
Sunak is facing widespread feelings of ennui and the inevitability of failure for the Conservative party, after four successive victories since 2010. The prime minister is more popular than his party in opinion polls, but still fails to contain the exodus of deputies who they are giving up competing in 2024. Former minister Sajid Javid added his name this Friday to the growing list of those who will not appear in the following national elections. Javid precipitated the succession of changes of Tory leaders in Downing Street when he resigned from the Government of Boris Johnson minutes before the departure of the same cabinet of the then head of the Treasury and current Prime Minister Sunak.
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