RUTH Jones is Newport West’s new MP.
The Labour candidate came out on top to be elected as Paul Flynn’s successor for the seat he held for almost 32 years.
This was her message to the people of Newport:
Polls closed at 10pm yesterday (Thursday, April 4), and after a quicker than usual verification counting was finished by just before 1.30am.
Labour clinched the seat with 39.6 per cent share of the vote - 9,308 votes in total.
Conservative candidate Matthew Evans put in a respectable showing, coming in second with 31.3 per cent. Ukip’s Neil Hamilton was a distant third, with 8.6 per cent, followed by Plaid Cymru’s Jonathan Clark with five per cent.
Plaid Cymru’s Jonathan Clark came fourth, with five per cent.
But it wasn’t all good news for Labour, with the party’s majority slashed from 5,658 to 1,951, or 8.3 per cent.
And turnout was low at 37.1 per cent, with a total of 23,615 votes cast.
In her victory speech Mrs Jones said she would go to Parliament “with Newport in my heart”.
And, speaking afterwards, she said: “It’s difficult to find the words at the moment.
“I am overwhelmed and very grateful to the electorate for electing me.
“I understand there is a lot of work to do because trust in politics is at an all-time low at the moment, so we’ve got to make sure we bring together people in Newport West.”
She added: “Thank you very much to those who elected me.
“Of course I understand they are those who chose not to, and there a lot of people who chose not to vote at all in this election, and we need to make sure we reach out to them as well.”
The by-election was called following the death of Mr Flynn, who was first elected for the constituency in 1987 and defended his seat in seven subsequent elections, last month.
And Mrs Jones paid tribute to Mr Flynn in her victory speech, saying: “There have been many tributes to him over the weeks, but one saying stood out to me – that everyone knew someone who had been helped by Paul.
“These words have been an inspiration to me throughout the campaign, after all that is what we are here for - to do our utmost for others.
“I am deeply honoured to stand here and have the support of the people of Newport West.”
Cllr Evans, who is the leader of Newport’s Conservative group, said he was “relieved and absolutely delighted that, under the current national situation, we’ve had a political earthquake.”
“A lot of polls were predicting we were going to get wiped out and actually we’ve reduced the majority.
“It’s excellent as far as I am concerned.”
He also congratulated Mrs Jones on her victory, saying: “I wish her every success in Parliament, where I am sure she will represent all the people of Newport West, whatever their political beliefs and however they voted in this by election.”
But he added he had “never known such anger and frustration, which I share and has been reflected in the turnout”.
He added: “At one stage they (Labour) were throwing the kitchen sink at this election. There were hundreds of them on the streets today, and clearly we are very happy we’ve managed to not just take second place, but very comfortably.
“I have had a lot of personal votes and I think that’s clearly helped. So overall we are happy.”
He also paid tribute to Mr Flynn, saying: “I hope Ruth will look to Paul’s example as a model of a dedicated local MP.”
And Mr Hamilton said he was also pleased with his result.
“When I started this election we were on 2.5 per cent – that’s what I inherited from 2017 – and I thought we would be doing very well if we saved our deposit, and we would be doing exceptionally well if we got eight per cent which is roughly the threshold we need to elect a member in each region for the Welsh Assembly,” he said.
“In fact we did much better than that – we got nearly 10 per cent, so to quadruple, or nearly quadruple, our result I would consider a success.”
In a statement issued after the result Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said: “I send my warmest congratulations to Ruth Jones on winning Newport West.
“Ruth will be a fantastic successor to Paul Flynn and will take up the tireless work he carried out for this community.
“Tonight’s result sends a clear message that the people of Newport and Wales are fed up of austerity which has robbed the Welsh economy of £1 billion through needless cuts, and shows support for Labour’s alternative.
“Labour will reverse these cuts and support the Welsh Labour government and first minister Mark Drakeford to rebuild communities like Newport with proper investment to create a society that works for the many, not the few.
“I thank Ruth Jones and the whole Labour team for the energetic and positive campaign we ran together to win Newport West so we can keep challenging this chaotic Tory government and build towards a Labour government.”
Plaid Cymru’s Jonathan Clark also said he was happy with his result.
"Every one of our local activists has worked so hard to achieve this result and winning our deposit back proves that we are on the rise in Newport,” he said.
"The choice in Newport West is between the London-based, Brexit facilitating parties of Labour and Tory, or a party based in Wales, committed to building a new Wales.
"We've spoken to thousands of people during this campaign and it's clear that they are eager for change. We're going to carry on gathering momentum behind our mission to build a new Wales."
The seven other candidates – Liberal Democrat Ryan Jones, Amelia Womack for the Green Party, Renew’s June Davies, Richard Suchorzewski of the Abolish the Welsh Assembly Party, Ian McLean of the SDP, Phillip Taylor of the Democrats and Veterans Pary and Hugh Nicklin of For Britain – lost their deposits.
ANALYSIS - BY ARGUS POLITICS REPORTER IAN CRAIG
The more things change the more they stay the same.
Despite all the talk of “political earthquakes” and “time for a change” throughout the campaign, in the end Newport’s Labour faithful came out once again.
It’s hard not to argue Labour put a lot into campaigning over the past few weeks, and based solely on effort deserved to win.
The Conservatives should be very proud of their result too, although it’s hard not to wonder what could have been if they had enjoyed a bit more backing from the national party.
While Ukip didn't do anywhere near as well as some predicted, the increase in their vote could symbolise the annoyance pro-Brexit voters at the moment.
This could also have played a key role in the shockingly low turnout as well - with many voters so disenchanted with politics in general they didn't bother coming out at all. Although Thursday morning's weather may have played a part in this.
It’s up to Ruth Jones now to prove she’s worthy of the faith the people of Newport West placed in her – and of living up to Paul Flynn’s legacy.
The total results in terms of votes cast were:
- Labour: 9,308
- Conservative: 7,357
- UKIP: 2,023
- Plaid Cymru: 1,185
- Liberal Democrats: 1,088
- Green Party: 924
- Renew: 879
- Abolish the Welsh Assembly: 205
- SDP: 202
- Democrats and Veterans: 185
- For Britain: 159
There were 100 spoiled ballots.
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