Revealed: Labour gained more than 30 of its so-called ‘non-battleground’ seats

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Labour gained more than 30 of the seats it identified as being ‘non-battlegrounds’ at the general election, LabourList analysis has revealed – with the party winning constituencies that had previously had Tory majorities of more than 20,000 votes.

The party published a list of 211 so-called ‘non-battlegrounds’ seats in December last year. LabourList revealed early in the election campaign that 11 of the seats were later listed as ‘battleground areas’ on the party’s volunteer website though, suggesting a change in strategy in those areas.

Analysis by LabourList of the election results has revealed that Labour won 33 of the seats it had initially labelled as ‘non-battlegrounds’ – including ten of the 11 seats later re-classified as ‘battleground areas’.

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Labour’s ‘non-battleground’ gains included South West Norfolk, the seat of former Prime Minister Liz Truss, which was won by Labour’s Terry Jermy, overturning Truss’ huge 26,195-vote majority.

Labour also succeeded in unseating former cabinet ministers Jacob Rees-Mogg in North East Somerset and Hanham and Penny Mordaunt in Portsmouth North, who commanded majorities of 14,729 and 15,780 respectively.

Its ‘non-battlegrounds’ gains also included Suffolk Coastal – which under previous constituency boundaries was won in 2019 by former cabinet minister Therese Coffey with a majority of 20,533 votes – and Poole, which the Tories won with a majority of 19,116 at the last election.

READ MORE: Revealed: How many battleground election targets did Labour win and lose?

Notable among the gains were a number of seats covering areas that Labour has never previously represented, including Ashford, Aylesbury, Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket and Weston-super-Mare.

The party also won Dartford, seeing the seat continue its status as the country’s longest-running bellwether. The seat has been won by the party that went on to form the government at every election since 1964 – a trend continued with Labour candidate Jim Dickson’s victory at this election.

The 33 ‘non-battleground’ seats gained by Labour

  • Ashford
  • Aylesbury
  • Bexleyheath and Crayford
  • Bracknell
  • Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket
  • Chatham and Aylesford
  • Congleton
  • Dartford
  • Derbyshire Dales
  • Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard
  • Folkestone and Hythe
  • Forest of Dean
  • Hertford and Stortford
  • Isle of Wight West
  • Lichfield
  • Mid Derbyshire
  • North East Hertfordshire
  • North East Somerset and Hanham
  • North Northumberland
  • North Somerset
  • North West Cambridgeshire
  • Poole
  • Portsmouth North
  • Reading West and Mid Berkshire
  • Ribble Valley
  • Sittingbourne and Sheppey
  • South Dorset
  • South East Cornwall
  • South Norfolk
  • South West Norfolk
  • St Austell and Newquay
  • Suffolk Coastal
  • Weston-super-Mare

Read more of our 2024 general election coverage:

North East Somerset and Hanham: Can Labour mayor Dan Norris consign Jacob Rees-Mogg to history?

Finchley and Golders Green: Can Labour win back Britain’s most Jewish seat?

Small boats and Tory mutineers: Can veteran Mike Tapp win Dover and Deal?

East Thanet: Inside the battle for coastal ex-UKIP stronghold not won since 2005

Sheffield Hallam: ‘Can Labour’s Olivia Blake hold on in Nick Clegg’s old seat?’

Battle of the bar charts in Wimbledon: Inside a rare election three-horse race

Could Labour take ‘non-battleground’ Tory seats across the South West?

Meet NHS doctor Zubir Ahmed, fighting one of Scotland’s tightest marginals

Brighton Pavilion: As Starmer visits, can Labour win the Greens’ one seat?

Labour wants a new generation of new towns. Can it win in Milton Keynes?

Meet Gordon McKee, the 29-year-old son of a welder vying for Glasgow South

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