This article was last updated on April 16, 2022
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The pro-European Union Liberal Democrats party candidate, Sarah Olney, had a surprising victory today as she secured a parliamentary seat for Richmond Park and North Kingston, a constituency previously held by the ruling Conservatives. The election is being seen as a major upset as the winning candidate was a hard line “Brexit” opposer and she overturned the Conservatives’ 23,000 majority from 2015, exposing deep dissection in the country that voted 52-48 percent to leave the EU.
The victory also reduces Prime Minister Theresa May’s already slim majority in parliament and that majority might be put to test if the parliament had to approve her decision to trigger the formal process of withdrawing from the bloc. During the Brexit referendum, Richmond Park and North Kingston area had backed the Remain camp. The victorious candidate, Olney, campaigned for the parliamentary seat on a promise to vote against triggering the withdrawal talks. In her remarks, Olney alleged that the residents of her constituency have sent “a shockwave” through the Brexit process and “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.”
Olney beat the incumbent, Zac Goldsmith, with 20,510 votes to his 18,638. Goldsmith had left the Conservatives over the government’s decision to expand nearby Heathrow Airport and ran as an independent candidate this time. All the main candidates in Richmond opposed Heathrow expansion, however, the Liberal Democrats turned the by-election into a vote on the terms of Brexit.
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