Keir Starmer’s Labour Holds Key U.K. Parliament Seat in Vote

(Bloomberg) -- The U.K. opposition Labour Party held a key parliamentary seat in a special election, handing leader Keir Starmer a boost as he seeks to capitalize on faltering national support for Boris Johnson's ruling Conservatives.

Paulette Hamilton, a nurse and longtime district resident, won 55% of the votes cast in Birmingham Erdington, increasing Labour's vote share from 50% in 2019. The West Midlands seat has been in Labour hands since its creation in 1974, but the Tories slashed the party's majority in 2019 when Johnson won an emphatic general election victory.

The result showed Labour is “regaining the trust of voters in our traditional red wall seats in the Midlands after the disastrous results of the 2019 general election,” the party said in an emailed statement.

The vote followed a long period of turmoil for Johnson, whose reputation has been rocked by allegations of rule-breaking parties in Downing Street during the pandemic. The Conservatives' poll ratings have fallen dramatically since October last year, while support for Labour has risen.

Thursday's so-called by-election was triggered by the death of veteran Labour Member of Parliament Jack Dromey. Just 27% of voters turned out for the election to replace him, compared to a turnout of 53% in 2019.

Tory candidate Robert Alden polled 6,147 votes, while Hamilton won 9,413, giving her a majority of 3,266.

Polling experts have cautioned that disaffected Tory voters are not automatically switching to Labour across the country. An Ipsos poll in January also found that Labour trailed six percentage points behind the Conservatives on the key question of which party was most trusted to grow Britain's economy, although Labour was 17 points ahead on tackling the cost of living.

Starmer visited Birmingham Erdington twice during the campaign, along with members of Labour's senior team, in an effort to encourage people to vote amid fears that low turnout -- which frequently happens at special elections -- could affect the result.