Shades of Blair in Selby sucker-punch gives Starmer hope of election-winning swing

The three by-elections are good news for Keir Starmer and Labour, clouded by Ulez doubts that failed to unseat Tories in Uxbridge, writes John Rentoul

The Selby result on its own suggests that Keir Starmer could match the 10 per cent swing to Labour that Blair achieved in 1997 (AFP/Getty)

If you want sensational by-election results these days, they are when seats surprisingly fail to change hands. The Liberal Democrats have been back to their by-election winning ways for a while – in Chesham and Amersham two years ago they overturned a huge Conservative majority and wiped out the unpopularity of the coalition years.

They did it again in North Shropshire, Tiverton and Honiton and now Somerton and Frome. No disrespect to Sarah Dyke, the new MP, or to Ed Davey and the by-election team, but the Lib Dem win in Somerset was the least interesting result of the night. After the aberration of the Clegg years in government, we are back to the truism that dogs bark, cats miaow and Lib Dems win by-elections.