Shadow Cabinet going to Newark – is Labour taking this by-election more seriously?

When the Newark by-election was first called, senior party staffers were very clear with us that Labour couldn’t afford to spend too much time, money or energy on the seat, as it was considered to be difficult for the party to win. Indeed, the early focus seemed to be on seeing if the by-election could end up on the same days as the European elections.

However, an email has gone out to all MPs (and a separate email to Shadow Cabinet members) from Douglas Alexander today urging them to campaign in the seat. Shadow Cabinet members will be expected to visit the seat at least once before polling day. Here’s an extract from the email they receievd:

Thank you for all your help in the campaign over the last few weeks and days. As you will know by now, we have knocked on 7 million doors over the course of the campaign and the leadership of the Shadow Cabinet in mobilising members and activists was crucial.

Our next priority is the Newark by-election. Polling Day is a week on Thursday – on Thursday 5 June.

We have a great local candidate in Michael Payne who is holding the Conservative Party’s feet to the fire.

An email to the PLP asking as many MPs as possible to help the campaign has been sent to colleagues this afternoon. I’d ask that you draw this to the attention of your team and encourage them to join the campaign.

I’d also ask that every member of the Shadow Cabinet make a visit to the campaign between now and Polling Day.

Now that the European elections are out of the way, are Labour looking to do better in Newark than first expected? We’ll be keeping an eye on the by-election in the days ahead.