Tory chair: Matt Hancock hurt Conservatives in Batley and Spen by-election
The Conservative party co-chair has said Matt Hancock’s resignation came up on the doorstep in the Batley and Spen by-election and likely cost them votes.
Amanda Milling said there were a “whole load of issues that affected our campaign” and that Hancock “was something that came up on the doorstep, I have to be honest about that”.
Labour candidate Kim Leadbeater won a surprise victory in the by-election by just 323 votes over Conservative candidate Ryan Stephenson.
George Galloway, who was running in a bid to oust Sir Keir Starmer as Labour leader, picked up a large chunk of the vote and almost cost Labour the by-election
“We had some issues over the weekend in terms of what happened,” Milling said.
“Matt resigned, that was the right thing to do. But governing parties don’t gain by-elections.”
Hancock resigned on Saturday after it was reported by The Sun on Friday morning that he had been having an office affair with his aide Gina Coladangelo, while he had simultaneously banned people from different households hugging.
He resigned as health secretary, after cabinet ministers and MPs piled pressure on him to resign.
Recent polls had the Tories in front in the Batley and Spen by-election and Labour officials were playing down the chances of the party holding the seat.
There were reports that allies of deputy Labour leader Angela Rayner were preparing the ground for a leadership challenge against Starmer if the party lost the by-election.
Leadbeater paid tribute to her family and friends after winning the seat previously held by her murdered sister Jo Cox.
“There’s way too many people to mention by name, but I do want to refer to my family and my friends, who, without them, I could not have got through the last five years, never mind the last five weeks,” Leadbeater said in her victory speech in Huddersfield.
“I want to say a huge thank you to the police who, sadly, I have needed more than ever over the last few weeks.”
Starmer said: “Kim has shown inspiring resilience in the face of hatred and intimidation. She was unafraid to call it out and ran a positive campaign of hope.
“Kim embodies everything I want the Labour Party to stand for: passionate about her local community and determined to bring people together.”
Leadebeater was harassed on video during the campaign by fundamentalist Muslims over her sexuality.
There were also leaflets distributed in the constituency by a local Imam that told people not to vote for Leadbeater as she was a lesbian.
It was alleged by some that Galloway was behind these attacks and had been telling voters about the Labour candidate’s sexuality – charges he denies.
Galloway said he would contest the result in the courts and has called for a recount, while also blaming the “mainstream media” for attacks on him.
Labour grandee Lord Peter Mandelson said: “My god was it ugly – the forces that George Galloway and his campaign tried to unleash in Batley and Spend were nothing I had ever seen in an election before.
“He was trying to create a grotesque communal grievance among Muslims voters and use that to turn that against Labour, misrepresenting Labour’s policies, misrepresenting Keir Starmer’s views about Islam and the Palestinians.”
Labour national campaign coordinator Shabana Mahmood said: “We saw a politics of fear start to take hold in that constituency and amongst those communities.
“George Galloway was allowed to go in and spread politics of fear.”