

The husband of Jo Cox has welcomed the loss of deposits by far-right candidates in the byelection triggered by the Labour MP’s killing.

Tracy Brabin: 'I hope I can build on Jo Cox's legacy' Read more

Tracy Brabin, a former Coronation Street actor, was elected to succeed Cox as Labour MP for Batley and Spen early on Friday morning with an overwhelming 86% of the vote, in what she described as a victory for “hope and unity”. The turnout was 26%.

The Conservatives, Greens, Ukip and the Liberal Democrats did not field a candidate as a mark of respect to Cox, leaving the path clear for a Labour win. However, nine fringe candidates – many from far-right parties – did stand. Therese Hirst for the English Democrats came second with 969 votes, while BNP’s David Furness was third with 548.

Brabin’s acceptance speech – which included a warm tribute to Cox, who died after being shot and stabbed outside her constituency office in June – was greeted by noisy heckling from supporters of some of the defeated candidates, who all lost their £500 deposits after failing to reach 5% of the vote.

Brendan Cox (@MrBrendanCox) Well done @Tracy4MP & great to see all the purveyors of hate lose their deposits #MoreInCommon https://t.co/s8ZdNAHa5L

Congratulating Brabin on her victory, Brendan Cox tweeted: “Great to see all the purveyors of hate lose their deposits.” Earlier in the day, he had urged the people of the constituency to use their votes to “show the world that hatred has no home in Batley & Spen”.

Cox also posted a picture of his late wife at the count on the night she was first elected in May last year, saying: “She was calm, serene and full of grace that night.”

Speaking over heckles – “She’s a racist”, “It’s called democracy, love” and “Coronation Street” – from her opponents at the count centre in Huddersfield, Brabin said: “I want to start by thanking the wonderful people of Batley and Spen – my home community that I’m so proud of. This has been a difficult experience for all of us, and tonight is a bittersweet occasion for me. That this byelection has had to take place at all is a tragedy.”

She paid tribute to the mainstream parties for “recognising the deeply sad nature” of the byelection and deciding not to stand. She said she had met many people who did not usually vote Labour, but had done so this time as “a reaction to some of the fringe parties who chose to try and use this tragic byelection as an opportunity to sow division”.

“I hope Jo will be proud tonight of our community. We have shown that we stand together with one voice choosing unity and hope.”

Liberal Democrat president Baroness Brinton congratulated the Labour victor, adding: “This is an election we wish had never happened and this is why the Liberal Democrats decided not to stand. Parliament, public life more widely and a young family were robbed of Jo Cox. She was a strong, brilliant voice for progressive politics, and we are much poorer without her.”

Brabin, who was a friend of Cox, grew up in a council flat in Howden Clough in the Batley and Spen constituency. She played Tricia Armstrong in Coronation Street from 1994-97, Roxy Drake in EastEnders in 2001 and Carole in Emmerdale in 2014. Brabin has also written for shows including Heartbeat, Shameless, Family Affairs, Crossroads and Hollyoaks.

It was Cox who first suggested to Brabin that she stand for parliament, while they were campaigning together before the 2015 general election. “While we were going door knocking, she said, ‘Tracy you should think about being an MP’,” Brabin told the Guardian last month. “The irony is horrid, isn’t it?”

Cox, 41, was killed outside Birstall library, where she was scheduled to hold a constituency surgery, on 16 June. Local man Thomas Mair has been charged with her murder and is scheduled to go on trial in November.

In the Witney byelection to replace David Cameron, held on the same day, Robert Courts held the seat for the Conservatives. The Lib Dems, fourth in the constituency in the general election last year, surged to second place with a 19% swing. Labour dropped to third.



The result was still a comfortable win for Courts, a barrister and local councillor, but his tally was more than 17,000 votes behind those cast for the former prime minister in 2015.

After a short speech in which he thanked his wife and family and praised his “brilliant” predecessor, Courts left the count without speaking to the media.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Liberal Democrat supporters cheer the result for their candidate Liz Leffman, centre, who finished second in the Witney byelection. Photograph: Matt Cardy/Getty Images

Few would have bet against the Conservatives in this seat. Witney has had a Tory MP since its creation in 1983, and at no time has the candidate had less than 43% of the vote share.

However, as an affluent, liberal part of the country that recorded a strong remain vote in the EU referendum, senior Lib Dems said they saw west Oxfordshire as a test ground for more winnable seats. The party hoped to capitalise on the fact that Cameron’s chosen successor had voted for Brexit.

Liz Leffman, the Lib Dem candidate, said the result was a “shot across the bow” of Theresa May. “People here don’t want to come out of the single market, they don’t want jobs at risk and that’s what we were voting on today. People who voted for me are traditional Conservatives, who have voted Conservative for decades. Mrs May is the new Ukip and people are not comfortable with a party lurching in that direction.”



