Alyn and Deeside by-election

Thanks to ITN News for publishing the full figures from the by-election caused by the death of Labour's Carl Sargeant.

• Jack Sargeant Labour 11,267 61% +15%
• Sarah Atherton Conservative 4,722 25% +4%
• Donna Lalek Liberal Democrat 1,176 6% +2%
• Carrie Harper Plaid Cymru 1,059 6% -3%
• Duncan Rees Green 353 2% -1%
• LABOUR MAJORITY 6,545
• TURNOUT 29%
• SWING 5% Conservative to Labour
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I suppose the only way that Labour was going to lose this seat would be for the party bosses to parachute a candidate in from the south. Congratulations to Jack Sargeant on his win, but one suspects that the Cardiff Bay hierarchy will continue to take the Gogs for granted.

The turnout was very disappointing, especially as the background to the by-election has dominated the headlines in Wales. The people who did turn out were clearly not bothered about the effects of leaving the EU on Airbus and agriculture, since the top two candidates both represented pro-Brexit parties.

Donna Lalek's increase in vote share (pushing Plaid down into fourth place) is highly praiseworthy as I understand that her campaign started from scratch. It augurs well for Liberal Democrat campaigns in more winnable seats.

Plaid's poor performance is going to increase the pressure on Leanne Woods to step down as leader.