Political parties are vying for every vote as bookmakers point towards an incredibly close by-election battle in Copeland.

The parliamentary seat is up for grabs after current Labour MP Jamie Reed announced he was stepping down from the role, triggering a by-election.


Just 2,564 ballots separated Mr Reed from his Conservative rival Stephen Haraldsen at the 2015 general election, so both parties are fighting for every ballot.

As of yesterday, the Conservatives were the slight favourites to win the constituency according to bookmakers, with Coral putting them at 5/6 to win and Labour at 11/8. Ladbrokes, Betway and Skybet also favour the Tories.

Concern around the future of various services at the hospital has been a key issue for residents in Copeland as the by-election gets into full swing.

Labour launched a video on Tuesday which outlines proposals to downgrade maternity and other services at the West Cumberland Hospital, accusing the government of putting lives in jeopardy if patients have to travel to Carlisle or Barrow for urgent medical treatment.

The Labour video says "Your NHS is not safe in Tory hands."

It points towards fears raised by midwives who believe babies will die if night-time consultant maternity cover at the Whitehaven hospital is removed.

Last year, a letter on behalf of midwives in west Cumbria to Stephen Eames, chief executive of North Cumbria University Hospital NHS Trust, said: "We cannot believe that you would remove consultant cover from WCH. Surely the lives of pregnant ladies are worth much more than a cost cutting exercise?

"Doctors going to work in third world countries are told that the main cause of maternal death in child birth is because of the inaccessibility of medical help in hospitals.

"It would appear we are to become a third world area in this so called prosperous country."

Labour is due to pick its candidate today from an all-female shortlist of three: Barbara Cannon, Rachel Holliday and Gillian Troughton.

The Conservatives are yet to announce their candidate but campaigning has already focused on Sellafield and the proposed Moorside development due to Jeremy Corbyn's previous comments on nuclear power.

Cockermouth hospital campaigner Rebecca Hanson has already been confirmed as the prospective parliamentary candidate for the Liberal Democrats.

The Green Party has decided it will field a representative to stand in the Copeland based on an anti-nuclear and anti-poverty platform.

The date of the by-election has yet to be set.