Candidates thank their supporters after election
Local branches of the Labour Party and the Green Party are celebrating success in the GLA election, with both parties improving their vote.
Lisa Homan, Labour's candidate in the South West constituency, overtook the Liberal Democrats to take second place and increased the Labour vote by almost 20,000 from the result in 2008. And local Green Party candidate Daniel Goldmith, who lives in Chiswick, increased his share of the vote by 3%, to 9.8%, the highest ever result for a Green in South West London. The Green Party are now in third place on the list.
Lisa Homan commented on behalf of the Labour Party; 'We had a 12.7% swing to Labour on the constituency seat and we upped the vote on the party list by 10.2% which has helped to win a third seat for the party on the assembly."
The party has described its campaign in Hounslow, Richmond and Kingston, in the GLA election as a “spectacular success”, despite the disappointment of not winning the London Mayoral election.
Labour also gained two new list seats with Fiona Twycross and Tom Copley joining Labour’s existing Assembly Members who all retained their seats.
In total Labour now holds 12 of the 25 seats on the Assembly.
The Green Party came third in the overall share of the list vote. On the Assembly, the Greens received 189,215 votes compared to the Liberal Democrats on 150,447. Chiswick-based Daniel Goldsmith, the Green Party candidate for South West London in the London Assembly, increased his share of the vote from 6.7% to 9.8% in the first past the post constituency election, the highest ever result for a Green in South West London.
Daniel said “The Greens are now the third party in London after the Conservatives and Labour. I am very confident that Jenny Jones and Darren Johnson will use their Assembly seats to continue to hold the Mayor to account, and ensure that the Environment and Social Justice stay on the agenda.“
He continued “Thanks to everyone who voted Green. We are very pleased with the good results. When I spoke to people in the street I found that people are more aware of environmental issues like Air Pollution, and understand how Green policies will help."
Traditionally City Hall’s third largest party, the Liberal Democrats only won two seats, their lowest ever representation on the body.
The Conservative party lost two of its longest-serving London Assembly members as Labour became the biggest group on the body. However, long-running member Tony Arbour (Cons) was re-elected to represent Richmond, Kingston and Twickenham.
Boris Johnson’s Deputy Mayor Richard Barnes lost Ealing & Hillingdon to Labour’s Onkar Sahota by just over 3,100 votes. In a letter today, Tony Arbour pledged to continue to work in the GLA on behalf of those who elected him.
“I should like to thank the 70,000 residents of Hounslow, the Royal Borough of Kingston and Richmond upon Thames for electing me to be their representative on the London Assembly.
They may be sure, as can everyone who lives in South West, that I shall continue robustly to stand up for and defend the interests of this marvellous constituency, “ he said.
The London Assembly is an elected body, which scrutinises the activities of the Mayor and has the power, with a two-thirds majority, to amend the mayor's annual budget. The assembly was established in 2000 and is headquartered at City Hall . The assembly is also able to investigate other issues including transport, and the environment, and make proposals to the mayor.
May 8, 2012