Labour defeats UKIP leader Paul Nuttall in Stoke-on-Trent Central by-election

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Labour defeats UKIP leader Paul Nuttall in Stoke-on-Trent Central by-election

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LONDON — Labour has defeated UKIP leader Paul Nuttall in the Stoke-on-Trent Central by-election.

Labour's Gareth Snell won by 7,853 votes to Nuttall's 5,233.

The Conservatives almost pushed Nuttall into third place with 5,154 votes, with the Liberal Democrats on 2,083.

In his victory speech Snell acccused UKIP of trying to divide the constituency.

"A city dubbed by some as the capital of Brexit has proved to the world that we are so much more than that," he said.

"This city will not allow itself to be divided by the referendum... or by race or faith or creed.

"Those who came to Stoke-on-Trent to stoke hate and division and turn us against our neighbours, I have one simple message: you have failed...

"We have said with one voice that hate and bigotry is not welcome here."

Nuttall stormed out of the count without making a concession speech.

His defeat follows a bruising campaign in which the UKIP leader admitted that claims made on his website that he had lost "close personal friends" in the Hillsborough disaster were false.

Labour sources suggest that Nuttall's decision to stand and label the seat the "capital of Brexit" had helped them secure victory.

Snell successfully labelled Nuttall as having been "parachuted in" to the seat — a charge that was aided by reports that Nuttall was not living in the Stoke property he listed on his nomination forms as well as an incident in which he failed to name the six towns that make up Stoke.

The result puts Nuttall's future in jeopardy just months into the job, after former leader Nigel Farage suggested last week that victory in Stoke was "absolutely fundamental" to UKIP's future.

Nuttall's defeat also throws doubts on the long-term future of the party post-Brexit. The UKIP leader had hoped to remodel the party as the successors to Labour in their English heartlands.

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See Also:

• Who will win the Stoke-on-Trent Central and Copeland by-elections?
• The Tories believe they will push UKIP into third place in the Stoke by-election
• UKIP faces coming third in Stoke as voters turn on Nuttall for his 'toxic' Hillsborough claim

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February 23, 2017 at 12:30PM