Labour win seats across Cumbria but is all as it seems?

For only the fourth time in the past 45 years the government will change from Conservative to Labour, or vice versa.

1979, 1997, 2010 and now 2024 will go down in history as elections that saw a change of government.

In an historic win, Labour have won a majority of more than 160 seats, unseating cabinet members and former prime minister Liz Truss.

The party won seats in parts of England previously seen as unwinnable for Labour, and retook former safe seats from the Scottish National Party (SNP) north of the border.

The road to Westminster for Labour passed directly through Cumbria and the party had four seats in Cumbria high up on their target list.

Labour supporters celebrating after winning the Penrith and the Solway seat (Image: NQ) Numerous shadow cabinet members – including deputy leader Angela Rayner – visited the region during the campaign and helped the party to rewrite the political map in Cumbria.

Labour won in Carlisle, Penrith and the Solway, Workington and Whitehaven and Barrow which were all listed as Tory defences after boundary changes.

These seats all include areas that voted heavily for Brexit and soundly rejected Labour’s Brexit plan in the 2019 election.

On the face of it, these gains and those across the country make for joyous reading within the Labour party. However, the figures tell a slightly different story.

Across the whole of Cumbria, Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party’s vote was up, pushing the Tories into third place in Whitehaven and Workington.

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage at Clacton Leisure Centre in Clacton, Essex (Image: Joe Giddens/PA) In Carlisle and Penrith and Solway, the Labour vote was less than the Conservative and Reform vote combined, suggesting a united front from the right could be more of a dangerous prospect to Labour in Cumbria.

Despite Cumbria gaining four Labour MPs, this election represents more of a rejection of the Conservatives in Cumbria rather than an overwhelming endorsement of Starmer’s Labour.

Nationally, Labour’s vote share is only marginally above where it was in their historic defeat in 2019, and they will get less votes than in 2019, despite gaining 200 seats.

READ MORE: Labour's Julie Minns takes Carlisle win in General Election

A collapse in the Tory vote, an increase in the Reform vote and a lower turnout has all contributed to this unique circumstance - but despite a 1997-style landslide, this feels very different.

The road to Downing Street went through Cumbria and – slightly ironically – the county delivered a ‘roadwork free’ route for Labour.

Only time will tell if the road will remain as free in the next election.