Stunning Result for Lib Dems in Putney & Wandsworth
Party wins most votes locally in European election
Jo Swinson visited Putney and the local Lib Dems during campaigning
The Liberal Democrats are celebrating in Putney and Wandsworth after winning the local vote by a huge margin. The declaration of voting in the borough in the European Parliamentary elections showed them performing well ahead of their expectations.
They topped the poll locally with 36.7% of the votes well ahead of Labour in second place with 15.8%. Ryan Mercer, the Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Putney told this website,"Wandsworth is a remain borough and these elections show it is now a Liberal Democrat borough too. Labour and the Conservatives can no longer claim to speak for people in Wandsworth until they listen to the Lib Dems and Stop Brexit."
The Conservatives could only manage 5th place with just 9.6% of the vote. The Brexit Party got 12.4% coming 4th below the Green party that received 13.9% of the votes. David Carlyon, Wandsworth Green Party Coordinator told this website: "It was an exciting night and we are delighted with the results for the Green Party, with MEP seats up from 3 to 7 - a clear call for decisive action both on the climate and ecological emergency and on EU membership. The results represent the Green Party's continued journey from strength to strength up and down the UK after recent successful council elections more than doubled the number of Green councillors. In Wandsworth, Sunday’s result saw the Green's distinct policies achieve the third highest vote share, showing that the message of 'Yes to Europe, no to Climate Change' is striking a chord throughout our local communities. The election of London MEP Scott Ainslie, who is also a Green councillor in neighbouring Lambeth, will ensure that we continue to push for urgent action on climate chaos, for the right to freedom of movement for all EU citizens and for staying in Europe."
| Wandsworth European Parliamentary Vote | ||
|---|---|---|
| Party | Number of votes | % |
| Liberal Democrats | 36,012 | 36.7% |
| Labour Party | 15,487 | 15.8% |
| Green Party | 13,696 | 13.9% |
| The Brexit Party | 12,159 | 12.4% |
| Conservative and Unionist Party | 9,395 | 9.6% |
| Change UK - The Independent Group | 7,281 | 7.4% |
| UK Independence Party (UKIP) | 1,057 | 1.1% |
| Women's Equality Party | 1,031 | 1.1% |
| Others | 2,069 | 2% |
| Total number of votes | 98,187 | |
| Turnout | 46.75% | |
Across London, the Liberal Democrats have won three of the eight seats available for the London constituency after achieving the highest vote of any party in the elections for the European parliament.
Their share of the vote surged by 20 points to 27.1% ahead of next placed Labour on 24% This meant that the Lib Dems gained three seats having had none before while Labour lost two.
The result was a disaster for the Conservatives who gained 7.9% of the vote thereby losing their two seats. The Brexit Party achieved 17.9% of the vote winning two seats although one of them was at the expense of UKIP. The Greens retained their seat in London increasing their vote by 3.5 percentage points.
Successful Lib Dem candidate Luisa Porritt said, "Real and pressing issues have long been ignored by our two main parties, that is why we must have a people's vote."
A London Labour Party spokesman said, "We're ecstatic that both Claude Moraes and Seb Dance have been elected as MEPs for London.
"Our MEPs will go to Brussels championing workers rights, fighting climate change and the other issues important to our party."
Benyamin Habib, one of the two newly elected Brexit Party candidates in London said, "We launched seven weeks ago and proved in that short time the nation still wants Brexit and Brexit with a no deal".
Turnout in London was 41.3% slightly up on 40.1% in the previous election.
| Eight members elected for the London region | ||
| Seat | Full name | Party |
| 1 | Irina von Wiese | Liberal Democrats |
| 2 | Claude Ajit Moraes | Labour Party |
| 3 | Benyamin Naeem Habib | The Brexit Party |
| 4 | Dinesh Dhamija Cinnabar | Liberal Democrats |
| 5 | Scott John Ainslie | Green Party |
| 6 | Seb Dance | Labour Party |
| 7 | Luisa Manon Porritt | Liberal Democrats |
| 8 | Lance Philip Forman | The Brexit Party |
The number of votes which each successful party had during the process of allocation of seats was as follows:
| Party | Vote total | Allocation |
| Liberal Democrats | 608,725 |
Seat one |
| Labour Party | 536,810 |
Seat two |
| The Brexit Party | 400,257 |
Seat three |
| Liberal Democrats | 304,363 |
Seat four |
| Green Party | 278,957 |
Seat five |
| Labour Party | 268,405 |
Seat six |
| Liberal Democrats | 202,908 |
Seat seven |
| The Brexit Party | 200,129 |
Seat eight |
The Lib Dems had a similarly stunning result i Hammersmith and Fulham
| Hammersmith & Fulham European Parliamentary Vote | ||
|---|---|---|
| Party | Number of votes | % |
| Liberal Democrats | 17,344 | 34.3% |
| Labour Party | 9,906 | 19.6% |
| The Brexit Party | 7,123 | 14.1% |
| Green Party | 5,839 | 11.5% |
| Conservative and Unionist Party | 4,558 | 9.0% |
| Change UK - The Independent Group | 3,297 | 6.5% |
| UK Independence Party (UKIP) | 784 | 1.5% |
| Others | 2539 | 5.0% |
| Total number of votes | 50,606 | - |
| Turnout | 45.08% | - |
Nationally the Brexit Party won the largest share of the vote at 31.6% with London the only region declared so far in which it didn't top the poll. Out of 64 MEPs declared so far, they will have 28, the Lib Dems 15, Labour 10, Greens seven, the Tories three and Plaid Cymru one.
However, the combined vote of parties explicitly backing a second referendum (Liberal Democrats, Greens and Change UK) was 5.95 million compared to 5.79 million for the Brexit Party with votes in Remain supporting Scotland and Northern Ireland still to be declared.
May 30, 2019