A pro-Europe political newcomer has won a shock victory in a UK parliamentary byelection in which Britain’s plans to leave the European Union became the defining issue.
Former Conservative MP Zac Goldsmith, who had held the wealthy west London seat of Richmond Park and North Kingston since 2010, was a firm supporter of Britain’s departure from the European Union. The area voted by around two to one in favor of remaining in the EU.
Sarah Olney, who only entered politics 18 months ago and stood for the centrist Liberal Democrat party, exploited this gap to claim the She becomes her party’s ninth MP, and further reduces the slender majority of the governing Conservative party.
She said voters had “sent a shockwave through this Conservative, Brexit government,” as it prepares to take Britain out of Europe following this summer’s referendum vote in favor of Brexit.
“Our message is clear. We do not want a ‘hard Brexit’; we do not want to be pulled out of the single market; and we will not let intolerance, division and fear win,” said Olney in her victory speech.
Former Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, who quit as Lib Dem leader after his party’s disastrous showing in last year’s general election, said the result showed those pushing for a so-called “hard Brexit” must think again.
Conservative Prime Minister Theresa May’s government has so far not confirmed whether Britain will seek to continue to have access to the EU single market under a “soft Brexit” — accepting the EU rules on free movement of labor that such access requires — or be out altogether, known as a “hard Brexit.”
Goldsmith, who had won the seat with a large majority only last year, triggered the byelection when he resigned from his party over the government’s decision to back the expansion of nearby Heathrow Airport.
This was the second bruising election defeat for Goldsmith in recent months. He ran for London Mayor in May but lost to Sadiq Khan, now London’s first Muslim mayor, after a bitterly fought campaign in which race and religion proved ugly flashpoints.