Labour claimed a sensational win in Altrincham and Sale West on a historic night locally and nationally.
The constituency, albeit with various boundary changes, had returned Conservative MPs for the past 101 years and had been represented by Sir Graham Brady since 1997.
Brady announced his resignation well ahead of the election but did find a new political role on polling day as he was named as a Lord by outgoing Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
The Labour candidate Connor Rand had only been selected a matter of weeks ago when the previous selection stepped down for personal reasons.
Despite his late entry to the race, Rand secured a win in a constituency that Labour would have considered unrealistic just a few years ago.
Rand’s 20,798 votes were enough for a majority of 4,000 over Conservative candidate Oliver Carroll, who had stood on promises to solve the town’s school places crisis and reopen the local walk-in centre.
Across the country, Labour won a historic landslide that saw a generational change in The Houses of Parliament. Keir Starmer will now become the Prime Minister.
Labour rebuilt much of its so-called ‘red wall’ that it lost in 2019 when Boris Johnson won his majority - though it was not without losing some seats, such as Blackburn and Islington North, to independent candidates. However, it was also a good night for The Liberal Democrats, The Green Party and Reform UK, who all made gains.
We want to bring campaigning back into journalism. Lend us a hand, and get our weekly newsletter and magazine editions in your inbox, for free.
