On Saturday 10th June 2023, Nigel Adams stood down as the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Selby and Ainsty constituency which coincided with the announcement that the House of Lords Appointments Commission (HLAC) had not recommend him for a peerage to the Lords. This triggering the by-election in the Selby and Ainsty constituency scheduled for Thursday 20th July 2023. Within a few days, the Regional Labour Party had joined us with the ambitious objective to overturn a majority of >20,000. After a few days, the Campaign Headquarters was ready to go in Selby Town centre. In the same week, the Selby and Ainsty Constituency Labour Party (CLP) had selected Keir Mather as our Parliamentary Candidate.
Throughout the following weeks, there were daily campaign sessions (e.g. door-knocking and leafletting) through the constituency. Labour staff and members were joining us from all over the country (e.g. London, Newcastle and further afield) to help. Local members were extremely active as well with Selby Town Councillor Fred Matthews estimating that local members had delivered over 50,000 leaflets across the constituency, in addition to the efforts from Region. Keir had been very active meeting local residents (e.g. through door-knocking), social groups and businesses in all corners of the constituency. And unlike the opposition, Keir had a clear campaign of hope, positivity and desire to help improve the issues in Selby and Ainsty for the local people. Come the day of the by-election, as things were so close in the polls, over 400 Labour volunteers were active in Selby Town alone trying to get the Labour vote out. In the end, this was a well organised, tactically sound and positive campaign aiming at real change. Come the end of the night, Keir Mather managed to make history overturning the 20,000+ Conversative majority collecting 46.0% of the vote beating the 34.3% share of the Conservatives. Below, Keir has written a short message on his feeling about the campaign and result:
“Dear friends,
It’s been a little over a month since our historic victory here in Selby and Ainsty and I’ve been working hard each day to show the difference a Labour MP can make.
With parliament in recess, I have spent my time building links to community activists and organisations, holding surgeries, and actioning constituent casework. Time and time again, people tell me how fantastic it is to have a local MP who is accountable, present and dedicated to the local area. We have made history providing the people of Selby & Ainsty with the fresh start they deserve.
And that’s why I wanted to extend my heartfelt thanks once again to everyone who made our victory possible. It is no exaggeration to say that your hard work will help change the lives of local people who previously had no-one to turn to. It has also sent a shockwave through British politics, putting this Conservative Government on notice and rewriting the rule book on where Labour can win. This is the difference we have made together – but now we must work to ensure that Labour continues to be successful in the new Selby seat, and across North Yorkshire.”
