Brexit: Was a shock British by-election a sign of UK EU referendum backlash?
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In a year of global political earthquakes, the Richmond Park by-election is barely more than a blip.
But was it, as some campaigners and commentators claim, the first sign of a significant Brexit backlash?
By any measure the leafy London constituency has stunned the country's political pundits.
Zac Goldsmith — a former Conservative MP and London mayoral candidate — triggered the poll by resigning from his party.
He stood as an independent so he could protest plans to expand the country's biggest airport, Heathrow.
The Conservatives did not run and most pundits predicted Mr Goldsmith, who won last year by 23,000 votes, would hold on.
But what was meant as a referendum on a new runway quickly became framed as a Brexit by-election.
Mr Goldsmith, who wants the UK to leave the EU, found himself pitted against Liberal Democrat candidate Sarah Olney, who does not want to leave.
The result?
He lost — 18,638 votes to 20,510.
The Lib Dems, who shed 49 of their 57 seats at the 2015 general election, claimed the result showed they "are back" — reinvigorated as spokespeople for the "48 per cent" of Brits "unhappy" with Brexit.
European bureaucrats even took the unusual step of welcoming the result.
Guy Verhofstadt, the lead EU negotiator on Brexit, congratulated the party declaring "Europe is watching and we are proud".
But Richmond Park is a strongly pro-EU constituency, where around 70 per cent of people voted to remain in this year's referendum.
The Conservatives and several prominent "Brexiteers" claim the result means nothing.
They argue it has already been over interpreted and ignores the fact most British constituencies voted Leave last year.
So what does it mean?
On its own this by-election is probably just a speed bump for the Government on the long winding road to Brexit.
But it will not want any more similar surprises as it moves towards starting the process of leaving the EU in March next year.
These highly publicised campaigns, which come with rolling media coverage and pages of opinion pieces, can ultimately alter the political mood.
Topics: government-and-politics, world-politics, referendums, elections, united-kingdom, european-union
