Mid Bedfordshire by-election: Watch Ali Strathern’s speech as Labour seal win

Labour candidate Alistair Strathern has won an historic victory in the Mid Bedfordshire by-election, with the party taking the seat for the first time in more than a century since the constituency’s creation.

He will replace former minister Nadine Dorries as the Mid Beds MP, after overturning a 24,664-seat majority.

It follows Labour’s overturning of a 20,000 majority in Tamworth, which the local party dubbed “sensational”.

Strathern said in his speech: “Tonight residents of Mid Bedfordshire made history. After decades of being taken for granted, being left behind, being unrepresented, they made the decision it was time for change.

“But this victory is only possible because the Labour party has changed. Under new leadership, we have moved to where the country is.”

He also said the results showed “even rural villages and farming communities” shared its values. “Nowhere is off limits for this Labour party. Tonight’s result proves it.”

“This victory is only possible because the Labour Party has changed”

New Mid Bedfordshire MP Alistair Strathern celebrates after overturning a Conservative majority of 24,664 – the largest overturned by Labour at a by-election since 1945

Follow live https://t.co/jAuMhcmUkk pic.twitter.com/xrQoo31o0P

— BBC Politics (@BBCPolitics) October 20, 2023

Shadow minister Peter Kyle, campaign lead for Mid Beds, had told the BBC shortly before results were declared Labour had done “very well tonight” in a seat it had never won. Winning in Mid Bedfordshire would be “absolutely astonishing” and “the biggest by-election shock in history”.

He also told LabourList earlier this week about the “unconventional” campaign Labour had run, with Strathern holding open events at village greens and halls and limiting direct attacks on rival parties.

Mid Beds results breakdown:

The results as declared by Central Bedfordshire council were as follows:

Alistair Strathern (Labour) – 13,872

Festus Akinbusoye (Conservative) – 12,680

Emma Holland-Lindsay (Liberal Democrat) – 9,420

Cade Sibley (Green Party) –

Dave Holland (Reform UK) – 1,487

Labour won 34.1% of the vote, up 12.4 percentage points, while the Tories’ vote slid some 28.6 percentage points to 31.1%. The Lib Dems gained 10.5 per centage points to reach 23.1% of the vote.

Mid Bedfordshire parliamentary by-election, result:

LAB: 34.1% (+12.4)
CON: 31.1% (-28.6)
LDEM: 23.1% (+10.5)
IND: 4.6% (+3.3)
REF: 3.7% (+3.7)
GRN: 1.8% (-2.0)

Labour GAIN from Conservative.

— Britain Elects (@BritainElects) October 20, 2023

Sir John Curtice also said just before results were declared that “substantial swings” to Labour in both Mid Beds and Tamworth, combined with Labour’s opinion poll lead, suggested it was “on course to win the next election”.

The last time Labour saw such swings was in the mid-1990s, and the results suggest the much smaller swing and Tory win seen in Uxbridge and South Ruislip may have been a “mirage rather than a pathway to Conservative recovery”.

A 19.1% swing was needed to win Mid Bedfordshire, and 21.3% in Tamworth, according to the BBC. Labour secured an historic 23.7% swing in the Selby and Ainsty by-election, but only 6.7% in Uxbridge and South Ruislip.

Strathern – a former councillor in Waltham Forest, London – works as climate lead for insurance at the Bank of England. He grew up in Bedfordshire and now lives in the constituency.

The by-election in the seat was triggered by the resignation of Tory MP Nadine Dorries, who announced her intention to step down in June amid a row over former Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s resignation honours list, though it was a number of months before Dorries formally resigned.

Dorries has represented Mid Bedfordshire in parliament since 2005 and was re-elected for a 5th time in 2019 with an increased majority of 24,664. The seat has traditionally been a Tory stronghold and has been held by the party since 1931.