Crewe derails New Labour project
For Labour, the result of the Crewe and Nantwich by-election was about as bad as it could be. Just weeks after Labour’s poorest local election results in 40 years, the Parliamentary by-election saw a Labour majority of 7,078 turned into a Conservative majority of 7,860 – a 17.6% swing from the 2005 General Election. The pressure group Compass has this analysis of the lessons from Crewe.
Some political commentators are pointing out that this is first Conservative gain from Labour in a by-election for 30 years. In Ilford North in March 1978, the swing was only 7%. I remember Ilford North well.
In those days, I thought that I wanted to be a Labour MP (I had already fought the two General Elections of 1974) and I went for the Labour candidacy in the by-election. I attended nine meetings involving the selection, I won three nominations and was shortlisted with five others, but the chosen candidate was Tessa Jowell who lost the by-election but went on to a successful Ministerial career which continues to this day.
Such is life …