General Election 2019 - Wrexham turns blue for the first time
On a night of major upsets across the country, the Conservative capture of Wrexham was a colossal coup for the party.
Results:
Sarah Atherton, Conservative - 15,199
Mary Wimbury, (Labour Co-op* - 13,068
Carrie Harper, Plaid Cymru - 2,151
Tim Sly, Lib Dems - 1,447
Ian Berkeley-Hurst, Brexit - 1,222
Duncan Rees, Green - 445
Turnout - 67.42 per cent
Labour has won the constituency at every election since 1935, but Yougov’s final poll published the day before the election suggested the Tories could be in line for a narrow win.
And so it proved on the night – nurse Sarah Atherton became not only the first Conservative MP for the town, but also the first female Tory MP in Wales.
Ian Lucas, who had held the seat for Labour since 2001, had decided not to contest the Wrexham seat, with social care worker Mary Wimbury taking over as the party’s candidate.
But, in common with much of the rest of the country, the party’s vote collapsed.
Ms Atherton picked up 15,199 votes – a share of 45.3 per cent – compared to 13,068 for the Labour candidate.
Acrimonious
That reflected a 9.9 per cent slump in the Labour party’s share of the vote, and a 1.7 per cent increase in the Conservatives’.
The result led to some acrimonious words at the count at Glyndwr University sports hall, with Ms Wimbury taking aim at her rival.
One Tory campaigner responded by shouting: “Take a look at yourself.”
Despite the solid Labour history, pollsters had been predicting a tight race, with a very real chance that the Tories could snatch Wrexham for the first time in history.
The Tories ran Mr Lucas – who had backed Owen Smith’s unsuccessul attempt to oust Jeremy Corbyn as Labour leader – close at the previous two elections, losing by 1,832 votes in 2017 and 1,832 in 2015.
Brexit was a major factor in the campaign. The constituency voted to leave the EU by a margin of 58-42, and the Conservatives threw everything at the seat during a hard-fought campaign.
Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership has also been identified as a factor.
Plaid Cymru’s Carrie Harper came third with 2,151 votes, Tim Sly of the Liberal Democrats was fourth with 1,447, Brexit Party newcomer Ian Berkeley-Hurst gained 1,222 votes to finish fifth, and Green candidate Duncan Rees came sixth with 445 votes. The turnout was 67.4 per cent.
