LABOUR suffered a double defeat in Wales last night as voters in the constituency once represented by Aneurin Bevin and Michael Foot rejected the party in favour of two political novices standing as independents.

The party also seemed to have performed poorly in the poll in Bromley and Chislehurst, where the Tories and Lib Dems were running neck and neck in the seat once held by Eric Forth.

Despite a mammoth campaign by Labour that is believed to have cost at least £100,000, the people of Blaenau Gwent chose Dai Davies, a former steelworker, as their new MP and Trish Law, the widow of the constituency’s former MP, for the Welsh Assembly.

Once this was the fourthsafest Labour seat in Britain. Now the failure of the party to connect with voters in its heartland will send shockwaves through the party, reinforcing the fears that new Labour has been taking its core vote for granted.

The by-elections follow the death in April of Peter Law, the independent who stood and defeated Labour’s Maggie Jones, a trade unionist and friend of Cherie Blair, at last year’s general election. Mr Law, formerly a long-standing Labour activist, overturned the party’s 20,000 majority over the imposition of an all-women shortlist on the constituency.

Shortly after his death his wife announced that she would stand for the Welsh Assembly, while Mr Davies, who was Mr Law’s agent, announced his candidature for Westminster.

Since then, Labour have bombarded the constituency’s valley towns with party workers and literature in an effort to recapture the seat.

Speaking last night, Mrs Law, who has no prior political experience, said that none of this impressed the people of Blaenau Gwent. “People have said in Blaenau Gwent they don’t want Tony Blair and they don’t want New Labour.

“New Labour is not doing Wales any favours and Blair is responsible for his own demise,” she said.

She has not revealed whether she will fight the seat next year, when the whole of the Welsh Assembly goes to the polls.

Mr Davies was even more forthright, declaring: “I am going to look across at and spit.”

He added: “We have been dictated to by party politics but the Labour party machine has lost the plot. The socialist beliefs don’t belong to any political party; they belong to the people across the valleys.”

Mr Davies stressed that his victory came despite the might of the Labour party machine. He spent £6,000 of his own money on the campaign, receiving just £800 in personal donations, and relied on a small band of supporters. By comparison, some households have received up to nine pieces of election literature from Labour.

The party also opened offices in four different towns in the area, and bussed in party workers and trade unionists from across the constituency for support.

The Labour Party’s candidate for Westminster, Owen Smith, a former £200,000-a-year lobbyist for Pfizer, appeared to stay away from the count for much of the evening.

Dubbed the “Oily Smith”, the former spin doctor was the subject of some fierce attacks. One Labour source said: “Emotions are still running high following the death of Peter Law.”

The result is also a personal blow for Gordon Brown, who visited the constituency a fortnight ago, suggesting that the party had confidence they would win. Part of the Chancellor’s strategy in recent weeks has been to try and connect with traditional Labour voters who have felt alienated by Tony Blair.

Terry Page, who was supporting the Independent’s campaign, said that Labour had suffered a double wammy.

“The people of Blaenau Gwent said, yes, we will vote for both independents. We don’t like Blair and we don’t like New Labour. They have had a kick in the bum — again. We want Socialism back in the valleys in Blaenau Gwent.”

Even some supporters of the independents admitted they had not expected Labour would get such a drubbing. “I’m quite surprised. I did think there would be tactical voting,” one said.

THE RESULTS

Dai Davies (Ind) 12,543

Owen Smith (Lab) 10,059

Amy Kitcher (L Dem) 1,477

Margrit Williams (C) 1,013

Majority 2,484

Turn-out 50.5%

Swing 8.37% Ind to Labour

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