this post was submitted on 01 Jul 2023
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UK Politics

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General Discussion for politics in the UK.
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Uxbridge and South Ruislip - 20 July:

  • Lab 95%

  • Con 5%

Selby and Ainsty - 20 July:

  • Lab 63%

  • Con 37%

Somerton and Frome - 20 July:

  • Lib Dem 93%

  • Con 2%

Mid-Bedfordshire - tbc:

  • Lib Dem 62%

  • Con 31%

  • Lab 7%

Rutherglen and Hamilton West - tbc:

  • Lab 89%

  • SNP 1%

Source: Betfair Exchange (mid odds, converted to probabilities).

Note: some of these markets aren't that liquid so the prices may add up to less than 100%.

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

Nigel Adams had a majority of 20,137 - I checked the records and there have only been five occasions in history when a larger majority has been overturned at a by-election, although two of those (the Lib Dem wins in Tiverton and Honiton, and North Shropshire) happened during this Parliament, and a third (the Lib Dem win in Richmond Park in 2016) was also against the current post-referendum Tory government. The Lib Dem win in Chesham and Amersham in 2021 was also by a large enough margin to overcome a majority of this size (the actual in that seat was only 16k, but Sarah Green turned that into an 8k Lib Dem majority).

So there's plenty evidence of big Tory majorities being beaten in the last few years. The challenge for Labour though is that they've never succeeded on this scale - Labour have only ever once taken a seat with a 9k+ majority at a by-election, in Mid-Staffordshire over 30 years ago.