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Labour announce date for by-elections to replace Tristram Hunt and Jamie Reed | Labour announce date for by-elections to replace Tristram Hunt and Jamie Reed |
(35 minutes later) | |
By-elections sparked by the resignations of Labour MPs Tristram Hunt and Jamie Reed are to be held on 23 February, the party has said. | By-elections sparked by the resignations of Labour MPs Tristram Hunt and Jamie Reed are to be held on 23 February, the party has said. |
Mr Hunt announced his decision to quit as MP for Stoke-on-Trent Central last week to become the director of London's Victoria and Albert Museum. | Mr Hunt announced his decision to quit as MP for Stoke-on-Trent Central last week to become the director of London's Victoria and Albert Museum. |
Mr Reed is leaving the Copeland constituency to take up a post at the Sellafield nuclear plant. | Mr Reed is leaving the Copeland constituency to take up a post at the Sellafield nuclear plant. |
The MPs are expected to leave the House of Commons early next week. | The MPs are expected to leave the House of Commons early next week. |
In his letter of resignation, Mr Reed said his last act as an MP was "to implore" Copeland voters to back Gillian Troughton, a former hospital doctor and Labour's candidate for the seat. | |
"This by-election is about the Tory government's dangerous proposals for the NHS," he wrote. | |
"The Tories have created a crisis in the NHS and, as a result, the future of West Cumberland Hospital and the services provided by Keswick Hospital are under threat." | |
Ms Troughton, who said it was "an honour" to be selected by Labour, faces a tough battle in the West Cumbrian seat where her party's majority over the Conservatives was cut to 2,564 at the last general election. | |
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said: "Gillian is a local councillor with a strong track record of getting things done for her community. She has campaigned tirelessly to maintain local hospital services. | |
"As a St John's blue light ambulance driver, Gillian has seen first-hand the extent of the crisis caused by this Conservative government, which has chosen to fund tax cuts for the wealthiest instead of our health service." | |
Boost for moderates? | |
The Conservatives said the selection was a "victory for the hard left", describing Ms Troughton as "nothing more than a Corbyn puppet". | |
However, her choice has been seen elsewhere as a boost for moderates, as Ms Troughton was one of 1,000 Labour councillors who signed a letter of support for Owen Smith in his unsuccessful attempt to unseat Mr Corbyn as leader last year. | |
Mr Reed held Copeland with 16,750 votes (42%) in 2015, ahead of the Conservatives on 14,186 (36%), UKIP on 6,148 (15%) and the Liberal Democrats on 1,368 (3%). | |
Labour is due to choose a candidate on 25 January to fight Stoke-on-Trent Central, in a by-election triggered by historian Mr Hunt's appointment as director of the V&A Museum. | |
Despite being a traditional Labour safe seat, Mr Corbyn faces an awkward contest in a city which voted overwhelmingly Leave in last year's EU referendum. | |
UKIP - which took second place in the 2015 general election - is due to announce its candidate on Saturday, amid widespread expectation that leader Paul Nuttall will fight the seat in the hope of becoming his party's second MP in the Commons. |