Voters in Stretford and Urmston will head to the polls today (Thursday, December 15) to choose a new MP after Labour former minister Kate Green stepped down. Nine candidates are bidding to succeed her as the MP for the Labour stronghold in the south west of Greater Manchester.
Labour is expected to hold the seat, with its candidate, Trafford Council leader Andrew Western, the frontrunner. Ms Green retained the constituency with more than 60% of the vote – a majority of 16,417 – in 2019 after she was first elected in 2010.
The Tories came in second at the last vote, with the Lib Dems in third. Ms Green, a former shadow education secretary, formally resigned in November to become Greater Manchester deputy mayor, triggering the by-election.
It marks Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s second test at the ballot box and comes amid a cost-of-living crisis, soaring inflation and a growing wave of industrial action across the UK. Polling stations open at 7am and close at 10pm, with the result expected in the early hours of Friday morning.
The last by-election, in the City of Chester two weeks ago, saw Samantha Dixon hold the seat for Labour after a contest was triggered by the resignation of Labour MP Christian Matheson after complaints of serious sexual misconduct were upheld by the Commons standards body. It was the first by-election since Boris Johnson’s dramatic exit from No 10 and the market chaos that came to define Liz Truss’s short stint in the top job.
The other most recent by-elections, which took place on the same day in June, were a disaster for the Conservatives – with Labour snatching Wakefield and the Liberal Democrats securing a historic victory in Tiverton and Honiton.
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