Labour have lost their former stronghold of Hartlepool to the Conservatives in an historic defeat for the Labour party
Until today, the constituency of Hartlepool had not elected a Conservative MP in its modern history.
The results, read around 7am this morning, revealed the Conservatives won a 51.9 per cent share of the vote, with Labour losing nine points at 28.7 per cent.
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Hartlepool, in the North East of England, has been a traditional working class stronghold for Labour so, like the 2019 general election the results, today marks another historic loss for the party.
If anything, it indicates that the last election was not a freak event and we can expect similar outcomes in other seats.
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The defeat is likely to force Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer’s team to reconsider their approach, particularly after he made a marked effort to rebrand Labour under a “new leadership” post-Jeremy Corbyn.
In short, the “not Corbyn” proposition is not compelling, or even adequate.
Another question to be raised, how wise was it to have a devout europhile MP running in a constituency that voted 70 per cent leave in the 2016 referendum on European Union membership.
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Conservative Jill Mortimer, who will be the first woman MP to represent the town, replaced Labour MP Mike Hill.
Elsewhere, Labour are losing ground across the country – with local council results also showing heavy defeats.
