The Conservatives win a historic victory over Labour in the Copeland by-election

REUTERS/Scott Heppell/Pool

LONDON — The Conservatives won the Copeland by-election in a historic victory over Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour party.

Trudy Harrison was elected as the constituency’s first Tory MP by 13,748 votes to 11,601 for Labour’s Gillian Troughton on a turnout of 51%.

Harrison increased the Conservatives’ share of the vote by a huge 8% from the 2015 general election. She won 44% of the vote to Troughton’s 37% — a 6.7% swing.

She described her victory as “a truly historic event.”

It is the first time that a sitting government has gained a seat in a by-election since the Conservatives won Mitcham And Morden in 1982. However, analysis this week by elections expert Matt Singh suggests that the last gain of a comparable size by a governing party was way back in 1878.

The result is a major blow for Corbyn’s leadership. The Labour leader, who was only elected for a second time last year is certain to face a barrage of criticism and may even face a possible challenge to his leadership from former supporters.