The BBC has shamefully ignored the London Assembly during this election. Nearly 9 million people live in Greater London – more than the populations of Scotland and Wales combined. And London does not have a Metro Mayor who is accountable to the local authorities that make up the Metro area. Instead it has a full blown Assembly with 25 Assembly Members. So it is inexcusable that the BBC is not reporting on it in its election coverage.
Rant over, because we do have some very good news to report. We have won our first constituency member ever for the Assembly for the SW London seat (which cover 5 Westminster constituencies). Gareth Roberts won decisively with 66,675 votes against Labour with 50,656 and Conservative with 49,981. This has been a Tory seat from the start.
Congratulations all round!
* Mary Reid is a contributing editor on Lib Dem Voice. She was a councillor in Kingston upon Thames, where she is still very active with the local party, and is the Hon President of Kingston Lib Dems.
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5 Comments
Delighted to hear Gareth Roberts won. I think the Lib Dems could do better than expected in South West and West London. There is deep skepticism about the ruling Labour councils here and no one with an ounce of progressive breath is going to vote Tory currently.
This is a fantastic achievement; well done Gareth and your team!
I have to admit I voted other than Liberal/LibDem for the first time in my 50 years for Khan to keep out Hall (but did vote LibDem in the constituency and party list ballots).
Actually, it wasn’st such a wrench given Khan’s especially green/transport policies, especially expansion of cycling infrastructure (though actually kudos to Boris on that too).
Much has been said about ULEZ but actually it’s an issue that directly effects on only a very small fraction of the electorate and polling suggest a majority of Londoners, including those in Outer London, favour it. So, perhaps not sensible to put at the heart of a campaign and an issue exaggerated by commentators.
Wonderful result
Getting a constituency AM meant we got one less list AM. Given that all our efforts seemed to be aimed at promoting Rob Blackie, this was an annoying failure.