Tories SLAUGHTERED by UKIP in Clacton by-election

[dutchman]

Breakthrough at last for Ukip as Douglas Carswell wins Clacton by-election as party comes within 600 votes of victory in Labour stronghold Heywood and Middleton



Douglas Carswell tonight made history after he triumphed in the Clacton by-election to become Ukip's first elected MP, while the party came within grasping distance of winning a Labour stronghold in a second contest.

Mr Carswell recorded a resounding victory over his Tory challenger with 59.6 per cent of the vote and an increased majority of 12,404 - six weeks after rocking Westminster by defecting from the Tories.

The results are a serious blow to both major parties just seven months from a general election.

After 20 years on the fringes of British politics, Ukip has tonight "come of age" and is now a "serious political party", Nigel Farage declared.

In a result that surprised Ukip after weeks of talking down their prospects, the party came within 617 votes of seizing the Labour stronghold of Heywood and Middleton, winning 11,016 votes and 38.7 per cent of the vote. Labour won 11,633 votes, or 40.9 per cent, with its lead cut from around 6,000.

Within minutes of the result, Labour MPs warned Mr Miliband's hold on working class communities was slipping. John Mann, the Labour MP for Bassetlaw, said: "If Ed Miliband does not broaden the Labour coalition to better include working class opinion then we cannot win a majority government. Ed Miliband does a lot of listening. Now he needs to do a bit more hearing."

The Tories had hoped to halve Mr Carswell's majority from over 12,000 in order to stave off other defections and have a chance of winning the seat back in May's general election.

In the event, Mr Carswell, who triggered a by-election after defecting from the Tories, saw his share of the vote go up. Tory strategists had doubted he would win more than 50 per cent.

[dutchman]

Miliband told to promote Northern working class MPs to front bench

Ed Miliband is facing demands to promote Northern working class politicians to the shadow cabinet and overhaul his immigration policy after the party came within a few hundred votes of a humiliating by-election defeat.

Northern Labour MPs are calling the near loss of Heywood and Middleton to a resurgent Ukip a "wake-up call" for the leader which proves relying solely on the NHS to win votes will lead to electoral defeat in 2015.

Mr Miliband's decision to build a front bench in his "own image" has created a "London-centric view" at the top of the party which is totally disconnected with working class voters, according to one Labour MP, echoing claims by Ukip.

Others have demanded the party harden its position on Europe, borders and a welfare state that lets people "take out before they put in" to counter the appeal of Nigel Farage's anti-Establishment movement.

The calls made to The Telegraph took on a new urgency yesterday after the Ukip leadership declared they would target weak Labour seats in the North next year and issued an open call for the party's MPs and councillors to defect.

The internal backlash came after Labour narrowly avoided the humiliation of losing a safe seat held for 31 years to Ukip despite sitting on a 6,000-vote majority and seeing the Tory and Liberal Democrat vote collapse.

Liz McInnes, Labour's candidate in Heywood, scraped over the line with just 617 votes to spare after a phenomenal surge saw Ukip leap from just 3 per of the vote in 2010 to 39 per cent on Thursday – just two points behind Labour on 41 per cent.

Miliband will do precisely nothing. He's another 'Gordon Brown' who believes everyone is wrong except him.

Besides which, where is he going to find a 'working class' MP in the Labour Party?

[rebbonk]

Miliband will do precisely nothing. He's another 'Gordon Brown' who believes everyone is wrong except him.

Pretty fair summary.

Blair/Brown et.al hijacked the Labour party for their own ends. They sold out to the likes of Murdoch and have (IMO) irretrievably destroyed what the Labour party stood for. Miliband the muppet, will continue in the same vein. Their ego's and greed know no bounds, and the working man has paid heavily for it.

The working man needs a new party, one that will stand up for his values and concerns in today's world. Sadly, I don't see one on the horizon, nor any politician capable of leading such a party.

[dutchman]

Tory MPs face losing 4 seats unless they defect to Ukip

At least four Conservative MPs would be more likely to retain their seats at the next election if they defected to the UK Independence party, according to new research.

Calculations undertaken for the Financial Times by Matthew Goodwin, professor of politics at Nottingham university, show that in four constituencies – Amber Valley, Cleethorpes, Bury North and Dudley South – the threat from Ukip is so great the MP would have a better chance of winning if they defected.

The conclusions are built on research Mr Goodwin set out in his book about the anti-Brussels party – Revolt on the Right – and take into account constituency demographics, Ukip’s success in recent elections and the personal views of the incumbent MP.

The findings fuel expectations that more Tory MPs could defect to the party, following Douglas Carswell’s victory in the Clacton by-election last week. Mr Carswell retained the seat to become Ukip’s first Westminster MP, following his move from the Conservative party.

[dutchman]