Tories Crush Labour in Crewe and Nantwich By-Election

In yesterday’s by-election in the constituency of Crewe and Nantwich (in Cheshire, a bit south of Liverpool and Manchester), the Labour Party unsuccessfully defended a majority of 7,000. The seat, held by the late Labour MP Gwyneth Dunwoody since the 1980s, was considered one of Labour’s safest. For the first time since 1982, though, the Conservatives have won a by-election, and for the first time since 1978 have taken a Labour seat this way. Most astonishing was the size of the victory; the Tory majority is 7,860.

Much of the problem for Labour is the general discontent with Gordon Brown’s government. Housing prices and petrol costs are making life difficult for the average Briton, and the recent government screw up on abolishing the 10p tax rate (effectively raising taxes on the poorest) made Labour look inept. The balance of the problem was a campaign that tried to paint the Tory candidate (Edward Timpson. MP) as a “toff,” which to Americans is a rich snob wallowing in arrogance. It came across as ham-fisted class war that really belonged to the 1930s.

Tory Leader David Cameron put the win in perspective, “"The Conservatives won a remarkable victory . . . but I know that winning a by-election and winning a general election are two different things and we've still got a huge amount of work to do.” Then, he let his excitement run away with him, and he said, “for Labour, it was the end of being of being the party of aspiration, it was the end of being the party of opportunity: it was the end of New Labour - here on the streets of Crewe and Nantwich.” Someone had best tell him that New Labour doesn’t need to call a general election for two more years, and that’s rather a lot of time to fix things.

Prime Minister Brown remarked, “The message that we have got is that people are concerned. They're concerned about rising food prices, rising petrol prices. People are concerned, rightly, about gas and electricity bills. They're concerned about what's happening to the economy. And I think the message that I have to get to people is this - that we are unequivocal and clear in our direction, that we're going to address and are addressing these problems. We will continue to do so. And my task is to steer the British economy through what have been very difficult times in every country of the world. And that I will continue to do with a direction, and a clear direction, that shows that we will address all the problems that people are facing.” Looked at clearly, he’s saying he isn’t going to pay any attention to this result, and he intends to continue governing as he has.

One effect of this result is a likely by-election in the constituency of Henley, the seat held by London’s newly elected Mayor Boris Johnson. He had promised to resign his seat if he won, but he would do so much later in the year. With a blue wave of Conservative votes coming from Crewe and Nantwich, he may well resign from Commons in the next few weeks. The resulting by-election would be a chance for the Tories to give Labour another drubbing.

© Copyright 2008 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Fedora Linux.

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