Sarah Olney wins Richmond Park by election

Sarah Olney's victory in the Richmond Park by election overturned Zac Goldsmith's 23,000 majority from the 2015 General Election. It has very clearly put the Liberal Democrats on the map as the UK-wide party which is committed to supporting the UK's place in the EU.

The by-election was triggered by the announcement of plans to create a third runway at Heathrow. Zac Goldsmith had promised in the last two general elections that he would resign his seat and stand as an independent to oppose Heathrow expansion. Liberal Democrats also oppose Heathrow expansion, and so this became a vote on Brexit - Goldsmith had voted to leave the EU and Sarah Olney promised to vote against the triggering of article 50 if elected.

This comes in a week that has seen the Tories distance themselves from what seems to be a note by an aid to Vice Chair Mark Field saying that their plan is to "have cake and eat it" and a story of Boris Johnson seem to support both free movement of people and remaining in the single market (which, if true, makes a mockery of his support for Brexit).

More startlingly, on the day of the result, The Sun ran a headline about how we need to leave the EU because of record-breaking immigration figures - conveniently overlooking the fact that the majority of those are migrants from outside the EU (and so would not be affected by Brexit), and the numbers are also evidence of how the UK economy actually needs immigrants.

Another piece of news from 2 December was Andrew Haldane of the Bank of England, bringing out a warning on financial inequality between UK regions. Liberal Democrat policy is both to seek to remain in the EU (and to have the closest-possible relationship if that can't happen) and to engage with those who voted Leave, recognising that the extent of the lies from the Leave campaign mean it is far from clear what people were voting for. That evidence on inequality highlights one of the things driving the Leave vote. It is hard to see how Brexit would help the less prosperous regions. The big irony is that one of the functions of EU structural funds is to address inequalities between regions, which is why places like Cornwall and Wales have been major beneficiaries of EU money.

And for Heathrow expansion, there are several reasons behind LibDem opposition. One is the noise and pollution which affects people in the immediate area. But another is that economic overheating in the SouthEast of England is not good for the UK as a whole and is fuelling inequality between regions. Our support for HS2 is because we see it as a way to move business away from the South East, to boost other parts of the UK. If the UK needs another runway, the question we should be asking is where it should be located in order to boost the economy as a whole. Improving the economic conditions for the parts of the UK that are left behind would be good for everyone.

At a time when the Labour party seems not to be an effective opposition, the LibDems have won a by-election on a platform that both helps us stay in the EU and helps us engage with the real sense of alienation which led to the Leave vote. Both of these are things to be proud of.

Click here for Sarah Olney's victory speech.