Labour said its victory last night in the Newport West by-election showed people have “had enough” of austerity.
But results from the poll also revealed a surge in Ukip support and abysmal voter turnout, suggesting the British public may just have had enough of politics in general.
Labour’s Ruth Jones won 39.58 percent of the vote with the Tory Matthew Evans close behind on 31.29 percent, the Press Association reports.
In third place, Neil Hamilton increased Ukip’s share of the vote from the 2017 General Election from three percent to 8.6 percent, despite the party taking a dramatic shift to the right over the recent months.
The party has hired Tommy Robinson as an advisor to Leader Gerard Batten and the two have shared a stage at a number of speaking events.
Hamilton, the Ukip leader in Wales and highest profile name taking part in the contest, sought a return to the Commons more than two decades after being ousted as an MP in the 1997 general election over the cash-for-questions scandal.
He had hoped to benefit from the Brexit effect in the Leave-voting city and campaigned saying the by-election would provide a chance to send a clear message to Westminster over its handling of the UK’s exit from the EU.
After the result, he said: “I regard [the result] a success in itself even though we didn’t win the election.
“I regard this as the start of a new era for my part and I look forward to the next election, whenever that may come.”
The by-election was triggered by the death of veteran MP Paul Flynn and came against the backdrop of Brexit battles at Westminster.
Voter turnout was 37.1 percent, down from 67.5 percent in the 2017 general election, with parties blaming poor weather including rain and hail on Thursday.
Jones, who campaigned for Remain in the lead-up to the EU referendum, said the country should not accept a “damaging Tory Brexit” or a no-deal outcome.
Speaking of voters’ feelings on the issue, she later told the Press Association: “The general consensus was that Brexit had become a cloud that was on top of people and it seemed to be stopping the main issues getting up to Parliament, so the people of Newport West feel their voices are not being heard at the moment.
“The trust in politicians is very low at the moment and I recognise that.
“They say get on with it, we need to make sure we bring this to a close now, it’s gone on long enough.”
Jones paid tribute to her predecessor in her victory speech, saying: “This by-election has taken place because of the sad passing of Paul Flynn, our friend.
“There have been many tributes to him over the weeks, but one saying stood out to me: ‘Everyone knew someone helped by Paul Flynn’. These words have been an inspiration to me during this campaign.”
The city has long been a Labour stronghold and voted Leave by a margin of 56% to 44% in the 2016 in-out referendum.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn welcomed the victory, stating: “Ruth will be a fantastic successor to Paul Flynn and will take up the tireless work he carried out for this community.
“Tonight’s result sends a clear message that the people of Newport and Wales are fed up of austerity which has robbed the Welsh economy of £1 billion through needless cuts, and shows support for Labour’s alternative.”