Today's By-Election To Carry Little Political Weight

A parliamentary by-election takes place today in the Greater Manchester constituency of Stretford and Urmston in northern England. While by-elections can often garner significant political attention in the UK, giving a notable boost or dealing a significant blow to incumbent gov'ts, this contest is seen as a safe hold for the incumbent centre-left Labour Party and therefore has not grabbed headlines.

• Since the seat's creation in 1997 it has been held by Labour, and was retained by Kate Green (who leaves to become Deputy Mayor of Greater Manchester) with a 16,417 majority in the 2019 GE.
• The current travails of the governing centre-right Conservative Party in opinion polls (trailing Labour by a double digit margin) means that Labour will take a comfortable win. Some attention may be paid to the vote share for the Conservatives and whether (more likely how far) it falls below the lowest share of 27.5% recorded in 2017 and 2019.