Stoke By-Election: Democracy 1 - Hate/lies 0

The political train of xenophobia, gutter opportunism and blatant lies dramatically hit the buffers yesterday, when the people of Stoke rejected the politics of the far-Right.

The British National Party and the especially Ukip view the working class seat of Stoke on Trent as a post-Brexit prime target to make national headlines. With 70% of Stoke voting for Brexit, Ukip leader Paul Nuttal saw this as a golden opportunity to propel Ukip as the working class alternative to the Labour Party. But the voters of Stoke were having none of it. The BNP too eyed the city where they once had a record number of councillors as their potential comeback. Thankfully, this didn’t materialise either.

In the end Labour’s Gareth Snell held onto the seat that the Party has held for more than 60 years.

But Labour’s woes aren’t over. One question being asked in Stoke was how was it that the Labour metropolitan elite thrusted one of their own Tristan Hunt, who seemed to care more about his own career rather than the working class challenges of a city he should have stuck by?

The Prime Minister, Theresa May will pleased with her party’s performance in Stoke, running a close third to Ukip’s Nuttal and achieving a dramatic by-election win in Copeland, another perceived safe Labour seat.

The biggest winner last night was decent democracy that unequivocally rejected the politics of division and racial hatred.

Simon Woolley