New defeat shakes Labour's "red wall"

The small town of Hartlepool has caught the political eye due to the by-elections to the British Parliament held there on Thursday.

The fact that the Conservative member Jill Mortimer would pinch the victory was seen as unthinkable just a decade ago - because the former industrial city has traditionally been Labormark.

But now the opposition party is forced to see itself defeated by Prime Minister Boris Johnson's party "Tories".

It is described as a shocking result, as no Conservative MP has been elected as Hartlepool's representative in London since the constituency was formed in 1974.

- It is truly a historic and memorable day, says election winner Jill Mortimer, according to the news agency AFP.

- Labor has taken Hartlepool's residents for granted for far too long.

Pressing the party

The election was seen as the first major test of Keir Starmer's semi-new leadership in the divided Labor.

The Conservatives' success in Hartlepool is a continuation of the trend in the last British parliamentary election, in December 2019. Back then, Brexit was the dominant issue and the Conservatives managed to win several seats in Labour's previously impenetrable "red wall" in the north of England.

For Labor, the result was the worst since 1935, for which former party leader Jeremy Corbyn has apologized.

The fact that even more lifelong Labor voters now seem to have switched to the Conservative Party in Hartlepool raises new questions about the way forward for Labor.

The pressure will increase on Starmer, who was elected chairman a year ago with promises to build the party and find its way back to its traditional constituents.

"It is impossible to hide the fact that this is a devastating result for Labor," party MP Steve Reed told the BBC.

- It shows that the change in Labor has not gone fast enough.

We need to hurry.

British Super Thursday

The election in Hartlepool was not the only one held during the British Super Thursday.

Several municipal and mayoral elections were held in England, and in Scotland and Wales, mandates for regional parliaments were at stake.

Most attention is paid to the regional elections in Scotland, as the nationalist party SNP hopes to strengthen its mandate for an independence vote.

But from there, no official result is expected until Saturday.