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Labour wins Feltham and Heston by-election | Labour wins Feltham and Heston by-election |
(40 minutes later) | |
Labour has held the Feltham and Heston seat in a by-election, with an eight per cent swing from the Conservatives. | |
The poll was caused by the death of former Labour MP Alan Keen last month. | |
Labour candidate Seema Malhotra secured victory with a majority of 6,203 over the Tories, who polled 6,436. | |
The Liberal Democrats held on to third place with 1,364 votes despite a strong challenge from the UK Independence Party, who polled 1,276. | |
The winning candidate described her victory as a "wake-up call" for the government. | |
"This result shows that this Tory-led government is totally out of touch," she said. | |
Labour polled a total of 12,639 votes and BBC political correspondent Gary O'Donoghue said of the win: "The fly in the ointment is the turnout, which has been pretty depressing as by-elections go." | |
Turnout has been estimated at 28.8% and our correspondent said this is the lowest in a by-election for 11 years - the previous lowest was in West Bromwich West in November 2000 at 27.6%. | |
The economy was a bigger issue for people going to the polls than Europe, he added. | |
UKIP had been hoping to secure third place from the Lib Dems. | |
It conceded its chances had been damaged by PM David Cameron's decision to use the veto at the Brussels summit which boosted the Tories in the final week of the campaign. | |
At the last general election Labour held the seat, located to the west of London, with a majority of 4,658. | At the last general election Labour held the seat, located to the west of London, with a majority of 4,658. |
All the three main party leaders visited the constituency during campaigning for what is the sixth by-election during this Parliament. | All the three main party leaders visited the constituency during campaigning for what is the sixth by-election during this Parliament. |
The full list of candidates standing was: | The full list of candidates standing was: |
David Bishop (Bus-Pass Elvis Party) | David Bishop (Bus-Pass Elvis Party) |
Mark Bowen (Conservative) | Mark Bowen (Conservative) |
Andrew Charalambous (UKIP) | Andrew Charalambous (UKIP) |
Roger Cooper (English Democrats) | Roger Cooper (English Democrats) |
Roger Crouch (Liberal Democrat) | Roger Crouch (Liberal Democrat) |
David Furness (BNP) | David Furness (BNP) |
Daniel Goldsmith (Green) | Daniel Goldsmith (Green) |
George Hallam (London People Before Profit) | George Hallam (London People Before Profit) |
Seema Malhotra (Labour) | Seema Malhotra (Labour) |