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Brian Paddick failed to make an impact in the North East |
Bruised Labour take heart at support on Boris’s home turf
• Ken’s vote holds in North East • Lib Dems ‘virtually wiped out’ • Thornberry to focus on Tories
LABOUR has taken fresh heart that it can protect MP Emily Thornberry’s knife-edge parliamentary seat after voters defiantly backed the party in Islington in the face of a Conservative surge elsewhere in London and Boris Johnson’s election as London mayor.
The Islington branch are confidently telling supporters that their constituency represents a silver lining to the stormy clouds which saw Labour suffer heavy losses at last week’s London Assembly and local elections.
Jennette Arnold comfortably retained the London Assembly seat for the North East constituency, which includes Islington, with an almost doubled majority, while more people voted for Ken Livingstone in the borough than Mr Johnson in the mayoral vote.
Buoyed by the results, the local Labour branch are even claiming they are in line to reclaim control of Islington Council within the next two years.
They have boasted that if voting patterns were repeated in the next local elections, the Lib Dems would achieve not even one seat at the Town Hall.
Ms Thornberry – who has one of the smallest majorities in the House of Commons with a lead of just 484 votes – taunted her Lib Dem rivals that her major concern at the next general election would not come from them, but rather from the Conservatives.
The Liberal Democrats admitted they had been “squeezed” in the elections by the interest in the showdown between Mr Livingstone and Mr Johnson, who lives in Holloway.
Candidate Brian Paddick polled just under 10 per cent of the North East constituency vote and the party was pushed into fourth place by the Greens on the list vote, which tops up members to the assembly by a proportional representation system.
Ms Thornberry, the Islington South and Finsbury MP, said: “It has been a bad weekend that has been very difficult to understand, because we did so well locally. The Lib Dems have virtually been wiped off the map. We have had 56 per cent turnout – we had 28 per cent last time. We are yet to see the ward-by-ward breakdown, but had this weekend’s vote been a council election, the Liberals would not have won a single seat.”
She added: “Politics is dramatically changing in Islington. There has been a real change in attitude and it is now about making a clear choice in a two-horse race. Voters must decide between Labour and Conservatives. The Tories are the real threat and I will be addressing that. Outer London has voted for Boris – it is my job to make sure Boris does not forget Inner London.”
Ms Arnold said: “I think Emily is right to suggest that it will be Labour versus the Conservatives in Islington.
“The Lib Dems were fourth in the party vote. That is cause for concern for them. This was a bad week for Labour, but not in North East.”
Liberal Democrat councillor Bridget Fox, the candidate who will face Ms Thornberry in the next general election, rubbished claims that the battle would be a two-horse race.
She said: “It was clear that many of our voters were voting tactically because they knew Boris Johnson was the only candidate that could realistically get rid of Ken. This has happened before in mayoral elections.
“In the last general election, Conservatives came a poor third and Labour won by fewer than 500 seats. There are no Tory councillors in Islington. When the next general election comes, there is no way that voters will be thinking the Conservatives are the only way of getting rid of Labour in Islington South.”
She added: “I am not about to make any arrogant predictions about how this effects the local map. This was not a council election and we have not seen the ward-by-ward breakdown, so we do not know precisely how Islington voted. The North East includes Hackney and goes right the way to Chingford.”
Lib Dem Meral Ece came third in the North East constituency, but polled 14.6 per cent – much higher than the Lib Dem London national average. She said: “It is ridiculous for Thornberry and Arnold to suggest it is now a two-horse race. The Tories haven’t had a seat on the council for 15 years. We have always had and will continue to have a strong presence in Islington.
“The Ken factor pushed up the Labour vote and the Conservative vote came from Chingford – we have been squeezed but this is special circumstances.”
With Labour at its lowest ebb nationally for decades, political analysts are predicting that the next general election will be delayed until the last minute, and it could coincide with the council elections due in May 2010.
Conservative candidate Alexander Ellis said: “Our supporters poured out on the day to ensure that the man who they wanted to win beat Livingstone. The same will happen again in a general election, I’m sure. The Guardian reading, chattering classes will be up in arms about this win. Nothing makes me happier.”
Duncan Webster, chairman of Islington Conservatives who lives in Caledonian Road, added: “We have been distributing leaflets in wards that we would previously left untouched. We have restructured significantly and have a clear strategy lined up for the council elections.”
The North East vote provided the largest Green vote in London.
Councillor Katie Dawson, leader of the Green Party in Islington, said: “The Tories often mistreat Green issues as just being about things like graffiti and litter.
“Ken was always very good with us on climate change, but I don’t think Boris will be a total disaster – he is a local guy, after all.
“I am quite optimistic about having a mayor that lives in Islington.” |
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