I want to thank each and every one of the activists and Party members who have supported my campaign for the West Central GLA seat over the previous months.
Please note the election result for the 2021 GLA West Central Constituency.
I congratulate Tony Devenish in his election win.
However, as can be seen from the result, I came 2nd – only 1.6% short of winning. The result shows the following:
• The largest swing (4%) from Conservative to Labour & Co-op
• A reduced Tory (2016) majority by 12,339 votes
• Green & Lib Dems got 29,889 votes - a 2.5% increase
• The total number of ballot papers rejected was 2911
• The seat has been Conservative for 21 years
• Tony Devenish has been a Westminster councillor for 15 years.
I am, of course, disappointed.
I had hoped to break the monopoly control in West Central, and would have brought a fresh set of eyes to the affairs of the GLA. I do not pretend to be a professional politician and wanted to represent West Central residents’ from my experience as a mother of four children.
The incumbent member is a full time politician (9 years as an Assembly Member & 15 years as a City Councillor).
I am pleased that Labour & Co-op won 11 Constituency member seats and that Sadiq Khan has been elected as Mayor of London.
He obtained over 1 million votes (1,206,034) from 1st & 2nd preference votes - 55% of the total. We also won 2 London wide seats – although Murad Qureshi was crowded out by the Green Party and Lib Dems taking 5 seats.
The future
Whatever happens now, Labour has shown what can be done by an amazing set of voluntary colleagues and friends from Hammersmith, Kensington, and Westminster Labour & Co-op Parties.
We may not have won West Central this time, but we will continue to campaign for local people and their children in addressing their interests against the pain imposed by this Tory regime that has cut spending on every aspect of our lives - education, health, social care, welfare benefits, and mobility.
We’ve put the Tories on notice across West Central, and I hope the result we achieved in this election leads to further success in future elections.
Rita
(9/5/2021)