THURSDAY’S by-elections saw voters completely rejecting the Tories, destroying the LibDems and giving the Labour Party a very stiff warning.
UKIP gained its first elected MP, with Douglas Carswell taking the seat of Clacton by 12,404 votes.
Carswell, who defected from the Tories, knocked his old party, which enjoyed a 12,068 majority at the 2010 election, into second place.
UKIP leader Nigel Farage claimed he had ‘shaken up British politics’.
In the night’s other by-election, Labour held on to Heywood and Middleton by 11,633 to 11,016 votes – a much reduced majority of 617. This was despite Labour going into the contest with a comfortable 6,000 majority. The turn-out was 36%.
John Bickley, for UKIP, came second with 39% of the vote, up from 3% in 2010. The Tories got 12% of votes, down from 27% in 2010 and the LibDems 5%, down from 23%, losing their deposit, which they also did in Clacton.
This emboldened Farage to claim UKIP’s second place in Heywood and Middleton was ‘even more significant’ than its win in Clacton, saying the party was now the main opposition to Labour in northern cities.
He added that he expected more Tory MPs to join UKIP following the defection of Carswell and Mark Reckless, who has triggered a by-election in Rochester and Strood, Kent.
Labour leader Ed Miliband said the Tories lost in ‘their own backyard’ in the Clacton by-election
However, he added: ‘There won’t be a shred of complacency from us as we reach out to all those voters who didn’t vote Labour and those who didn’t vote at all.’
Prime Minister Cameron claimed: ‘If you see a big UKIP vote you end up with Ed Miliband as prime minister, Ed Balls as chancellor, Labour in power.’
Labour Party vice-chairman Michael Dugher said his party would continue to ‘expose UKIP for what they are’. ‘We will take them on in our areas,’ he said.
But Labour MP and former Pensions Minister Frank Field warned yesterday: ‘If last night’s vote heralds the start of UKIP’s serious assault into Labour’s neglected core vote, all bets are off for safer, let alone marginal seats at the next election.’
Labour MP John Mann warned: ‘If Ed Miliband does not broaden the Labour coalition to better include working class opinion, then we cannot win a majority government.’
Former Labour foreign secretary Jack Straw insisted that Miliband ‘gets it’ on immigration but warned the party needs to send a ‘stronger message’ on the issue to stand a chance against UKIP.
It is crystal clear that unless Labour ditches its austerity programme and puts forward socialist policies that defend the Welfare State, ends the privatisation of the NHS, builds millions of new council homes and provides jobs for youth, it will not be able to form a majority government.
