Now what for Sir Keir Starmer and Labour after crushing Hartlepool defeat?
Labour Party leader Sir Keir Starmer (R) and deputy party leader Angela Rayner (L) on the campaign trail on May 5, 2021 in Birmingham (Getty Images)
Labour’s crushing defeat in the Hartlepool by-election has already sparked recriminations and finger pointing, with the party quickly descending into factional warfare.
Labour left MPs have been reasonably quiet about their discontent with Sir Keir Starmer’s leadership and his attempt to moderate the party until now, however we should expect to see this change from today.
To put Labour’s Hartlepool loss into perspective, it is just the fourth occasion a government has won a seat off the opposition in a by-election since World War II.