Northamptonshire embraces Labour as voters turn against the Tories
As the Labour Party won a landslide election today, Northamptonshire voters firmly rejected the Conservatives with five constituencies turning from blue to red
Reporting by Sarah Ward, Hilary Scott and Craig Lewis
Northamptonshire has six new MP’s, with five of those Labour, as the party had a great night nationally and locally.
Northampton North, Northampton South, Corby & East Northants, Wellingborough & Rushden and Kettering have all changed from Conservative to Labour, with South Northants and Daventry the only constituency that remains blue.
Labour’s candidates and supporters were jubilant tonight as win after win was announced across the two election halls in Kettering and Northampton. The candidates had been tight lipped all throughout the evening, with candidates on strict national orders to say nothing publicly until after the votes were declared.
The Conservative party has been in power for 14 years but today the Labour Party, led by Keir Starmer, will form a new government. A number of Conservative MPs lost their seats, notably former PM Liz Truss and Jacob Rees-Mogg, with many from the party pointing to the pandemic and inflation as the reason why they polled so badly.
But it was Reform UK, led by Nigel Farage, which looked to have badly dented the party’s vote share, with the relatively new party coming second in some parts of the country. At the election counts in Northants - held at the Kettering Leisure Village and the King’s Park Tennis Centre in Northampton - the Reform UK candidates were pleased with their performances.
All three of the Northants Conservatives who were the incumbent MPs; Philip Hollobone (Kettering), Tom Pursglove (Corby & East Northants) and Andrew Lewer (Northampton South) lost their seats. The two new Tory MPs, Sarah Bool (South Northants) and Stuart Andrew (Daventry) were parachuted in after Andrea Leadsom and Chris Heaton-Harris decided not to run this time.
The Northants first result was in Northampton South at about 4.45am this morning with Labour’s Mike Reader securing 16,890 votes ahead of Tory Andrew Lewer on 12,819. Reform UK came third with 8,210 votes.
Giving his victory speech Mike Reader, who has been working in the construction industry, said:
“I am grateful for the trust that the people of Northampton South have put in me.”
He said he would work tirelessly to champion the town in Westminster.
Andrew Lewer, who was first elected in 2017, said:
“Politics can be very rough and it can be very unfair and sometimes nationally and locally I’ve been badly let down. So I want to thank those who have stuck with me. The voters who stayed with me and the members and activists who have pounded those pavements since May.”
The votes then came in thick and fast with Lee Barron triumphing in Corby & East Northants, picking up 42 per cent of the vote share, as 21,020 residents voted for him. The Conservatives came second (with 14,689 votes) and Reform UK were third with 8760 votes.
Losing Conservative Tom Pursglove, who during his time at Westminster had climbed the ranks and was the minister for legal migration said it would be a wrench to leave his constituency but promised he would not ‘carp from the sidelines’.
Lee Barron, who is a union official, said in his victory speech that it was the privilege of his life to be elected into public office. He said:
“This didn’t happen by accident. It happened because of the work we put in.”
He said the Labour Party now had an opportunity to give people the government they deserve.
Gen Kitchen, who became Labour’s only MP in February at the byelection, regained her seat. She saw colleague Rosie Wrighting then defeat Phillip Hollobone, who has been the MP for Kettering for the past 19 years.
He gave a composed and gallant losers speech and paid tribute to Rosie Wrighting and her campaign.
Labour’s Lucy Rigby resoundly beat newcomer Conservative Dan Bennett gaining almost double the votes with 18,209 residents in the Northampton North constituency voting for her. Dan Bennett had 9,195 votes and Reform UK were third with 7,010.
In an emotional speech, she said:
“I’m under no illusion whatsoever of the scale of the work that is needed, the scale of the change that people have said they want. That change has begun this evening.”
Dan Bennett said: “I’m a realist, we’ve seen the way the polls have gone, Northampton North is a bellwether seat and it’s always gone to the party of government so I knew it was going to be a challenge, it was going to be tough. I had less than five weeks to mount a campaign. I was announced as a candidate with less than five weeks to go, and we had boundary changes to cope with. I fought my heart out to do my best.”
On Lewer’s dig at the lack of support: “Michael [Ellis] has been out with me on the trail and he’s also been up and down the county helping in other seats. Adam Brown has been a great support, along with Sam Rumens, my agent who has been with me every evening until gone midnight.I cannot thank the two of them enough, they’ve been absolute lifesavers.
“I’m looking forward to getting back to a bit of normality, absorb this night and see where it goes from there.”
The Northants Conservatives had to wait until after 7am this morning for some good news, which came with the election of Sarah Bool in South Northants and then Stuart Andrew in Daventry.
Sarah Bool, who has stood in a London election before and whose father is a long standing Rutland councillor, gained 19,191 votes, with the turnout for South Northants the highest in the county at 68.8%. Labour’s Rufia Ashraf was second (with 15,504 votes).
Sarah Bool said: “I look forward to the work ahead to protect this beautiful constituency.”
Stuart Andrew, who had been the Conservative MP for Pudsey, Yorkshire, said: “To the other candidates, I don't think anybody really understands what it is like to be a candidate and I thank you all for the spirit in which you held this election.
“It is an honour to be elected to the Daventry constituency... I pledge that I will work as hard as I can for every single part of that constituency.
“There is no doubt that this has been a difficult night for the Conservative Party, and we have a lot of soul searching to do. Unity is the thing that matters most and we must make sure we come together as a team to make sure we are holding the government to account in Parliament.”
Reform UK’s leader Nigel Farage win in Clacton was topped off by gaining a significant number of votes across the country, including in Northamptonshire. They placed third ahead of the Liberals in many parts of the county.
But it was a good night for the Liberals nationally, gaining 71 seats.
The Greens also did well in Kettering, with candidate Emily Fedorowycz winning 7,004 votes and gaining 14 per cent of the vote.
But it was Labour’s night and the party ended up winning at least 411 seats (at 9.05am with five results to be announced.
Well we certainly had "Change". Congratulations to all newly appointed MP. However, who would had believes that the Reform party would have so much votes. Wherever you look in the county they are the third party with the most votes. And now Danielle Stone who apparently needs a Deputy Commissioner which was never required previously in Northamptonshire. This will add to the already bloated staff numbers of 128 which is five times bigger than the nearest comparable neighbours. Is this "Value for Money" for the tax payer? It does not appear that way in my opinion.
Congratulations to the new MPs.
I hope we can look forward to you all working positively for the people of Northamptonshire.
The county as a whole is in a poor state so there is a lot to do to bring about improvements.