Summary

  • Conservatives gain Copeland from Labour in by-election

  • Labour win Stoke Central by-election, fighting off UKIP challenge

  • Theresa May hails new MP Trudy Harrison's "astounding victory"

  • Jeremy Corbyn "disappointment" over Copeland, but celebrates Stoke

  1. Copeland Mayor Starkie 'shocked' by resultpublished at 12:09 Greenwich Mean Time 24 February 2017

    BBC Radio Cumbria

    Independent Mayor of Copeland Mike Starkie told BBC Cumbria: "The scale of it was a shock, over the course of the night it became more apparent the Conservatives were growing in confidence, like everybody else I was surprised by how large the majority was in the end.

    "The Conservatives have taken a seat they haven't held for as long as anyone alive can remember."

    Independent Mayor of Copeland Mike Starkie
  2. Nuclear views sparked 'shock' electionpublished at 12:05 Greenwich Mean Time 24 February 2017

    Gillian Troughton and Trudy HarrisonImage source, Getty Images
    Image caption,

    Conservative Trudy Harrison (right) beat Labour's Gillian Troughton by more than 2,000 votes

    The BBC hears from former Labour voters who helped elect a Conservative MP in Copeland.

    Nuclear views sparked 'shock' election

    The BBC hears from former-Labour voters who elected a Conservative MP in Copeland.

    Read More
  3. Rapper makes unlikely appearancepublished at 12:04 Greenwich Mean Time 24 February 2017

    Emma Thomas
    Political reporter, BBC Radio Stoke

    Emma Thomas and Professor Green

    Rapper Professor Green caused a stir when he unexpectedly turned up at the Stoke-on-Trent by-election count.  

    BBC Stoke's Emma Thomas found out he was busy filming a documentary.

    Read more here

  4. Labour 'may have too much faith in NHS issues'published at 12:04 Greenwich Mean Time 24 February 2017

    The Labour Party may have overestimated the NHS in West Cumbria as a trump card to play in the by-election that saw them lose the seat, according to one political expert.

    Hospital sign

    Campaigners supporting Gillian Troughton, the Labour candidate, saw the threat to move some services from the West Cumberland Hospital in Whitehaven to the Carlisle hospital 40 miles away as a key issue .

    But Dr Stuart Wilks-Heeg, head of politics at Liverpool University, says the party's strategy of focussing on the NHS didn't seem to work for them.

    Quote Message

    If it hasn't worked in Copeland, it may not work nationally, in spite of this very acute sense of crisis in the NHS.

  5. Corbyn 'disappointed' by Copeland resultpublished at 12:02 Greenwich Mean Time 24 February 2017

    BBC News Channel

    The Labour leader has vowed he will fight on, and hailed his party's victory in Stoke.

  6. Labour has major problems...published at 11:37 Greenwich Mean Time 24 February 2017

    Labour's failure highlights three main issues

    Iain Watson
    BBC political correspondent in Whitehaven

    Whitehaven in Copeland
    Image caption,

    Whitehaven town centre in Copeland is lined with pound shops and bookmakers

    Voter after voter has said to me "look at the town centre here" - with pound shops, charity shops and bookies.

    "Labour has done nothing for this area, we need new blood," said one. 

    "I am 80 and Labour has been in charge all that time - we need a change," said another.

    Labour's failure to retain Copeland has highlighted three major problems. 

    Read more here .

  7. Labour message 'not enough to win'published at 11:29 Greenwich Mean Time 24 February 2017

    Leader says party will "go further to reconnect" with voters

    Trudy Harrison and Gillian TroughtonImage source, Getty Images
    Image caption,

    Labour's Gillian Troughton was defeated by the Tory party's Trudy Harrison

    In a speech in London, Mr Corbyn said: "Labour's victory in Stoke-on-Trent Central was a decisive rejection of UKIP's politics of division and dishonesty, and I congratulate Gareth Snell on his election. 

    "But our message was not enough to win through in Copeland, and I congratulate Gillian Troughton on the campaign that she fought. 

    "In both campaigns, Labour listened to thousands of voters on the doorstep. Both constituencies - like so many in Britain - have been let down by the political establishment. 

    "To win power to rebuild and transform Britain, Labour will go further to reconnect with our supporters and voters in general."

  8. Who's the new MP?published at 11:26 Greenwich Mean Time 24 February 2017

    Copeland's new MP Trudy Harrison

    Theresa May and Trudy HarrisonImage source, Getty Images
    Image caption,

    The PM joined Trudy Harrison on the campaign trail earlier this month

    Copeland's first Conservative MP since 1935, Trudy Harrison lives in the village of Bootle with her husband Keith and four daughters. 

    Brought up in Seascale, she moved to Bootle in 2002 and has worked as a regeneration officer for Copeland Borough Council and volunteered as a parish councillor and local school governor.

    Mrs Harrison, 40, says she's secured funding for affordable housing and businesses, and supported local teenagers to get their "dream" BMX track.  

    She's also been managing the Wellbank and Bootle2020 projects, which will bring new homes, a hotel with spa and conference facilities, office space and services to South Copeland.

    Mrs Harrison's husband Keith and four daughtersImage source, Getty Images
    Image caption,

    Mrs Harrison's family supported her on her campaign

    In the early hours of this morning, Mrs Harrison took to Facebook to thank people who had voted for her.

    She wrote: "I want to thank everybody who backed me to be their next representative in Parliament. 

    "People in communities right across this constituency have put their faith in me, a special sort of responsibility. 

    Quote Message

    I know that many of them might never have voted Conservative before - but whichever way you voted, I will work hard to be a strong voice for you and to stand up for this very special part of the world.

  9. Jamie Reed's verdict: Labour vote didn't come outpublished at 11:06 Greenwich Mean Time 24 February 2017

    The former MP Jamie Reed, whose resignation prompted the Copeland by-election, says it was Labour voters staying at home, not changing their allegiance to the Conservatives, that lost the seat.

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  10. Mixed emotions for Corbynpublished at 10:43 Greenwich Mean Time 24 February 2017

    "Celebration and disappointment", says Labour leader

    Jeremy CorbynImage source, PA

    Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn says: "It's a day for celebration in Stoke and a day of disappointment in Copeland. 

    "We defeated UKIP in Stoke, despite all predictions that they would prevail; the politics of hope have prevailed over the politics of hatred.

    Quote Message

    Copeland was obviously very disappointing. I had hoped we would have won the election there. We didn't.

    Asked if he would quit as leader, Mr Corbyn replied: "I was elected to lead this party, to oppose austerity and oppose the redistribution of wealth in the wrong direction, which is what this government is doing. 

    "We will continue our campaigning work on the NHS, on social care, on housing."   

  11. Neighbouring Tories welcome Trudy Harrisonpublished at 10:36 Greenwich Mean Time 24 February 2017

    Cumbria's newest MP Trudy Harrison has been welcomed by her Conservative colleagues.

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    MP for Carlisle, John Stevenson, told BBC Radio Cumbria he was looking forward to working with Mrs Harrison: "We have some common interests, the A595 being the obvious one, we have common interests with regard to the hospitals and the nuclear industry is vital to the whole county, so there's a lot of things where MPs can work together."

    The MP for Carlisle, John StevensonImage source, John Stevenson.
  12. 'One of the dirtiest by-elections'published at 10:35 Greenwich Mean Time 24 February 2017

    UKIP says Nuttall was victim of smear campaign

    Paul NuttallImage source, Reuters

    Paul Nuttall had hoped to become UKIP's second MP, joining colleague Douglas Carswell at Westminster.

    Nuttall, a 39-year-old Member of the European Parliament, served as UKIP's deputy leader for six years before being elected leader last year with 62.6% of support among party members.  

    He was pinning his hopes on Stoke-on-Trent - which recorded one of the highest proportions of Leave votes anywhere in the UK in last summer's EU referendum.

    But Nuttall's campaign was dogged by personal gaffes - culminating in a fierce backlash earlier this month over  false claims he lost close friends  in the Hillsborough tragedy. 

    The BBC's Norman Smith says the party believes Nuttall is a victim of a smear campaign:

  13. UKIP chairman: 'It could take 20 years to win again'published at 10:15 Greenwich Mean Time 24 February 2017

    Chairman says result is "disappointing but not desperate"

    Today Programme
    BBC Radio 4

    Media caption,

    UKIP Chairman Paul Oakden says the party is still united behind leader Paul Nuttall

  14. Blown awaypublished at 10:06 Greenwich Mean Time 24 February 2017

    PM wakes up to historic news

    Theresa MayImage source, AFP
    Image caption,

    The Prime Minister pictured ahead of the by-election result on Thursday, battling the high winds of Storm Doris

    The Tories' win at Copeland marks the first by-election gain by a governing party since 1982 - "a truly historic event", in the words of new MP Trudy Harrison.  

    The BBC's Norman Smith says Theresa May was woken up by a text relaying the news, which quickly spread through the party.

    Tory party Chairman Sir Patrick McLoughlin told Good Morning Britain: "This is an amazing result for the Conservative Party. 

    "By-elections come and go, this one will be remembered for many, many years to come. 

    "It is a truly historic by-election. What we have seen today is something that we haven't seen in British politics in the last 40 years".

  15. Labour councillor's concern over majoritypublished at 10:02 Greenwich Mean Time 24 February 2017

    Labour councillor for Meir North in Stoke-on-Trent,  Ruth Rosenau, , external says despite the Labour win, the fact that their majority has been halved is worrying.

    Quote Message

    I think it is a concern and I think it has absolutely shown us we need to reconnect with people far more in the communities - I think that has come across in the run-up to the by-election."

    Ruth Rosenau, Labour Councillor

  16. Excuses, excusespublished at 09:50 Greenwich Mean Time 24 February 2017

    The Labour Party explains its loss

    Norman Smith
    BBC's assistant political editor

    Tony BlairImage source, PA

    The BBC's Norman Smith says the Labour leader's team has a variety of explanations for its humiliating loss at Copeland, including a recent controversial speech by former PM Tony Blair

    Mr Blair warned that leaving the EU would be "painful" for Britain and Europe and the benefits would be "largely illusory". 

  17. Famous by-elections: 11 memorable moments from years gone bypublished at 09:44 Greenwich Mean Time 24 February 2017

    From Churchill to Goldsmith

    Justin Parkinson
    Political reporter, BBC News

    Parliamentary by-elections have produced some memorable moments in British political history. 

    Winston Churchill later remembered his first loss had left him "with those feelings of deflation which a bottle of Champagne represents when it has been half-emptied and left uncorked for a night". 

    Read more

    Winston ChurchillImage source, Getty Images
    Image caption,

    The first time Winston Churchill ran for Parliament he was 25

  18. Labour win is 'decisive moment', says campaign managerpublished at 09:43 Greenwich Mean Time 24 February 2017

    Labour MP Jack Dromey, who ran the Stoke Central campaign, says his party is not yet "a credible alternative government", but its by-election victory for Gareth Snell is "a decisive moment".

    Jack Dromey

    He says there is a view that his party is "not listening" but the by-election win shows "what we have done in this community is precisely to do that".

    Quote Message

    Are we yet a credible alternative government? No we're not. But tonight is a decisive moment."

    Jack Dromey MP

  19. 'Honoured and humbled'published at 09:39 Greenwich Mean Time 24 February 2017

    Stoke's new MP Gareth Snell celebrates

    Gareth SnellImage source, AFP

    Celebrating his Stoke-on-Trent Central by-election win, Gareth Snell said: "To those who came to Stoke-on-Trent to sow hatred and division, I have one simple message: you have failed."

  20. Labour's Stoke Central campaign praisedpublished at 09:35 Greenwich Mean Time 24 February 2017

    BBC Radio Stoke

    Professor Mick Temple, from Staffordshire University, has praised the way Labour organised their campaign in Stoke Central.

    He's been with the Radio Stoke breakfast show to share his expert opinion on the by-election, won by Labour's Gareth Snell (pictured). 

    Gareth SnellImage source, Getty Images
    Quote Message

    I think given the circumstances of this, given the presence of the UKIP leader, this was a very good result for [the Labour Party], I think their organisation on the ground was excellent, for once - it hasn't always been - and UKIP's organisation lacked that sort of slickness and that skill."

    Professor Mick Temple