Corbyn vows to 'turn back Tory tide' after disastrous Copeland defeat

'Labour’s share of the vote in Copeland has been falling for 20 years and of course I take my share of responsibility," the Labour leader says

(PA)

Jeremy Corbyn has vowed to “turn back the Tory tide” and hit back at critics calling for his resignation after Labour lost a by-election in Copeland, a constituency it has held since 1935.

Writing in The Mirror, Mr Corbyn acknowledged the result in Copeland was “deeply disappointing”,

He said: “Labour’s share of the vote in Copeland has been falling for 20 years and of course I take my share of responsibility.”

After fresh criticism from a number of Labour figures, Mr Corbyn explicitly called on disgruntled MPs to unite behind his leadership, in order to “finish the job” and “reconnect Labour with working class voters.”

He said: “If we stand together, I am confident we can…turn back the Tory tide.”

Conservative candidate, Trudy Harrison, won the Copeland seat with 13,748 votes, while Labour’s Gillian Troughton trailed on 11,601, a swing of 6.7 per cent. It is the first time the government has won a seat from an opposition party in a by-election since 1982.

On the same day, Labour saw off the challenge from UKIP in Stoke, retaining the seat with 37% of the vote.

A Labour activist who campaigned in the constituency told The Independent Mr Corbyn had been unpopular with voters in Copeland, who described him as "weak", "weird" and a "weasel".

However, he also said he believed the real reason for failure was the party’s neglect of its Northern base.

“The Labour party has abandoned these communities – our majority in Copeland been gradually decreasing since 1997," he said. "Labour has failed to address the trauma inflicted upon these areas by years of deindustrialisation and more recently austerity.

“Doors we knocked on hadn’t been knocked on since May 1st 1997, the date of Blair’s first election victory.”

A senior figure recently told The Independent that if the devastating Copeland by-election result were mirrored elsewhere, Labour would be left with just 150 seats in the House of Commons.

The frontbencher also predicted Labour might be looking at its worst general election since the 1930s.

On Saturday, former leadership contender David Miliband told The Times that Labour was “further from power than at any stage in [his] lifetime.”

However, Corbyn has clearly stated he will not be standing down, regardless of the result in Copeland.

“I was elected to lead this party to oppose austerity and to oppose redistribution of wealth in the wrong direction, which is what this government is doing. We will continue our campaigning work on the NHS, on social care and on housing,” he said.

Tom Watson, deputy leader of the Party, also told members at a Scottish Labour conference that it was “not the time for a leadership election”.

He did, however, acknowledge that Copeland demonstrated the huge challenge facing Labour ahead of the next general election.

"Seven years into a Tory Government, we shouldn't be facing questions about whether we can retain the seats we already hold.”