After 25 years and 16 consecutive defeats a by-election victory for the Conservatives while in Government
This by-election was ultimately won by the brute force of a massive activist turnout. It was a vivid demonstration of the importance of a party’s grassroots.
The Conservative Party has flung every minister, MP, candidate, activist and aristocrat it can lay its hands on into this fight.
The selection of Robert Jenrick in Newark left an opening in the process.
The Conservative majority was 16,152 last time.
There are some familiar names on the shortlist, cropping up in more than one seat.
We should point up that UKIP’s electoral appeal to Left and Right is inconsistent and undeliverable – a ‘have your cake and eat it’ brand of politics.