Theresa May celebrates “astounding” Copeland by-election win

Political commentator Kevin Maguire said two words sum up Labour’s humiliation “Jeremy” and “Corbyn”.

It is incredibly rare for a governing political party to gain a seat in a by-election – the most recent example was in 1982, although arguably the last time a comparative gain was made was in 1878. “Nothing whatsoever will happen”.

In recent months, the party has lost its deposit in Richmond Park, slid to third in Witney and come fourth in Sleaford. They weren’t convinced that the party supported the nuclear industry…

Local factors played a part in Labour’s defeat.

Emily Thornberry told Sky News that “fake news” about Jeremy Corbyn’s views on nuclear power had cost Labour.

As well as the Stoke by-election – which was won by Gareth Snell – Copeland was seen as a major test for Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour.

“In both campaigns, Labour listened to thousands of voters on the doorstep”. UKIP had hoped to do well in a seat that voted strongly to leave the European Union, and to exploit Corbyn’s weakness to show that it was a serious threat to Labour in its working class heartlands.

Many first-time Conservative voters in Copeland cited the Conservative Party’s commitment to supporting nuclear power as the motivation behind their vote.

The constituency and its predecessor, Whitehaven, had returned Labour MPs since 1935.

But the party’s national elections and campaign coordinator Andrew Gwynne did concede that it was a “disappointing result”. Mid-term. Incumbent government. Shattering result for Labour.

Corbyn insists he will stay on as leader despite the Copeland loss, and instead chose to focus on Labour fighting off a challenge from Ukip leader Paul Nuttall in a separate by-election in Stoke Central. Fears about the loss of northern seats to Ukip – which was almost pushed into third place by the Tories – now appear overblown.

The result revived demands that party leader Jeremy Corbyn resign and strengthened the position of Prime Minister Theresa May.

Baroness Smith also ridiculed claims by some Labour frontbenchers who tried to play down the significance of the Copeland result, and rejected suggestions that Tony Blair had undermined the party’s performance with critical remarks about Corbyn. So in essence, these by-elections were about Mr Corbyn’s future.

“That is one thing”. Many leaders would have walked out, but not Mr Corbyn. ‘He has won two leadership contests. When she meets Mr Corbyn in Parliament next week, she would have to fight hard to disguise her satisfaction.

Last year, Labour’s deputy leader warned of entryism in Labour by the far-left.

“Let us not be in any doubt about what these results represent”, she said.

“I think he’ll be gone in a year”, said one senior union official.

“You can’t just swing over to the 48pc or the 52pc”, he added.

Even Corbyn critics recognise that some of Labour’s troubles are not his fault.

Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell claimed that the nuclear issue was “a unique” factor, and that Blair’s intervention and the failed “coup” attempt by Labour MPs previous year were partly to blame.

S&D sources told EURACTIV.com that for the next two years, “We will provide them with information regarding the negotiations as they can not rely on the government”.