Beast of Bolsover loses his seat: Labour’s Dennis Skinner is defeated by the Tories on a 11.5% swing

Beast of Bolsover loses his seat: Labour’s Dennis Skinner is defeated by the Tories on a 11.5% swing

  • The ex-miner was among a raft of Jeremy Corbyn’s MPs ushered out by Tories
  • Tory Mark Fletcher won 21,791 votes compared to his Labour rival’s 16,492 
  • The Derbyshire constituency has been Labour since its inception in the 1950s 

Notorious Labour politician Dennis Skinner has lost the seat he represented since 1970 in a dramatic 11.5 per cent swing to the Tories.

Known as the Beast of Bolsover for his fiery outbursts from the backbenches, the ex-miner was among a raft of Jeremy Corbyn’s MPs ushered out as Boris Johnson mopped up the party’s Leave-voting northern heartlands.

The Derbyshire constituency has been Labour since its inception in the 1950s, but the Conservatives last night trounced Mr Skinner to return a 5,299 majority.

Tory Mark Fletcher won 21,791 votes compared to his Labour rival’s 16,492.

Known as the Beast of Bolsover for his fiery outbursts from the backbenches, the ex-miner was among a raft of Jeremy Corbyn’s MPs ushered out as Boris Johnson mopped up the party’s Leave-voting northern heartlands (file photo)

Before his defeat, Mr Skinner was poised to takeover from former Chancellor Ken Clarke as Father of the House – the title of the Commons’ longest-serving MP.  

The veteran left-winger’s seat was under threat heading into Thursday’s crunch election, with most polling predicting Bolsover (70 per cent Leave) to fall to the Tories.

Mr Skinner established himself in Parliament through his withering put-downs and rage-filled rants – primarily directed at Conservative politicians.

Not without controversy, he was once kicked out of the chamber after refusing to apologise for branding David Cameron ‘dodgy Dave’.

Yet his most famous interventions came during the annual state opening of Parliament, where he would regularly enliven the otherwise formal event by supplying a quip to Blackrod.  

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