North Shropshire has been a Conservative stronghold since its creation in 1983. However, the seat currently stands empty, after the resignation of MP Owen Paterson who was found to have breached parliamentary rules on lobbying, with constituents called to a by-election on December 16.
In alphabetical order, the candidates in the North Shropshire by-election are:
Suzie Akers Smith, Independent
Andrea Allen, UKIP
Boris Been-Bunged, Rejoin EU
Martin Daubney, The Reclaim Party
Russell Dean, The Party Party
James Elliot, Heritage Party
Alan āHowling Laudā Hope, Official Monster Raving Loony Party
Earl Jesse, Freedom Alliance
Yolande Kenward
Duncan Kerr, Green Party
Helen Morgan, Liberal Democrats
Dr Neil Shastri-Hurst, Conservatives
Kirsty Walmsley, Reform UK
Ben Wood, Labour
This is another seat which will probably be held, but with a much reduced majority.
A majority of almost 23,000 was blown away by the ire of North Shropshire voters. A swing of 34.2% from Conservative to Lib Dem is the second largest since the war, bettered only by Christchurch in 1993.
Helen Morgan finished in third place at the last general election; she now has a majority of almost 6,000.
Despite the lower turnout overall, a drop of almost 22 percentage points, she more than trebled her personal vote.
They got the kicking they deserved Iām afraid, and to lose to the limp dens is the ultimate humiliation!
Maybe time for the government to instill some discipline into themselves and start singing from the same sheet, itās abject chaos at the moment thanks mainly to dire leadership from Borisā¦ The buck has to stop there without excuseā¦
Agreed, but will the higher powers oust Boris? I cannot see anything changing with Boris still at the top; the axe must fall but there is the problem because a good replacement will be needed and I canāt seen any hovering that will do any better
Very true LD but every party seems to have the same problem and, as Iāve said many times, the general quality of our āmastersā has never been lower, not a statesman in sight and I canāt see that changing anytime soon. We really deserve betterā¦
Itās the only way the public can make their feelings known to the political elite, as they never listen till something like this happens. They are so entrenched in their own self-importance nothing will change anyway.
In her victory speech, Ms Morgan, who won by 5,925 votes, said: āTonight, the people of North Shropshire have spoken on behalf of the British people. They have said loudly and clearly, āBoris Johnson, the party is over.ā Your government, run on lies and bluster, will be held accountable. It will be scrutinised, it will be challenged and it can and will be defeated.ā
The North Shropshire result saw a the seventh biggest swing - 34.2% - in a by-election since World War Two.
It is the second loss of a former Conservative stronghold to the Lib Dems since the general election, with the party seizing Chesham and Amersham, in Buckinghamshire, with a 25% swing in July.
Earlier this month, the Tories held Old Bexley and Sidcup in a by-election following the death of MP James Brokenshire, but the majority was cut from nearly 19,000 to 4,478, with a 10% swing to Labour.
The North Shropshire seat has existed in some form since the 1830s and, until Friday, had always had a Conservative MP.
A staggering defeat for the Tories, by any measure ā¦
Sorry Bread, youād edited your post while I was typing mine. Maybe the covid stuff played a part, but I think there have been a whole raft of gaffs and cockups which probably played bigger roles.
Letās not deviate the thread by going down wild conjectures as to which were the final straw.
Bottom line is that the Tories will be concerned whether BJ is still the man for the sole job of attracting votes, and scratching their heads regarding viable alternatives.
Meanwhile, Labour will no doubt be a bit concerned that they singularly failed to make any headway whatsoever.
