Alison McGovern says Chester byelection result shows people “want the change Labour offers”

Labour easily retained the seat of City of Chester yesterday, and the numbers of votes cast make grim reading for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak - along with many Conservative MPs whose jobs will be vulnerable should the swing to Labour be replicated in a general election.

Byelections are often a means of voters expressing their discontent with the government of the day, but given the seat had become vacant because of the resignation of Labour's Christian Matheson following the upholding of two allegations of sexual misconduct made against him a former member of staff, circumstances might have been expected to reduce enthusiasm for Labour and dent the party's vote.

But by receiving 17,309 votes with 61.22% of the vote share, Labour chalked up its highest ever majority and share of the vote in the seat. 

The Conservatives received a mere 6,335 votes and a 22.4% vote share, their worst showing in the constituency since 1832. In a lowly third place came the Liberal Democrats with just 2,368 votes.

The result gave Labour a majority of 10,974 following a swing in its favour of almost 14 per cent. 

Commenting on the result, Alison McGovern, shadow minister for work and pensions and MP for Wirral South, said it demonstrated that the people of Chester were "fed up of Tory rule and want the change Labour offers".

"After the Tories crashed our economy, it's clear that only Labour can be trusted to help families across the country make ends meet … The Tories have no mandate to govern. It's time for a Labour government."