Thanks to Duncan Brack of the Liberal Democrat History Group for pulling this list together so near wins / misses spotted so far and to various commenters who have added to it:
NEAR MISSES
Ashfield 192 (0.4%)
Edinburgh South 316 (0.7%)
Hampstead & Kilburn 799 (1.6%)
Hull North 641 (1.9%)
Oldham East & Saddleworth 103 (0.2%)
Sheffield Central 165 (0.4%)
Swansea West 504 (1.4%)
Camborne & Redruth 66 (0.2%)
Chesterfield 549 (1.2%)
Oxford West & Abingdon 176 (0.3%)
Rochdale 889 (1.9%)
Truro & Falmouth 435 (0.9%)
ONLY JUST HELD/GAINED
Bradford East 365 (0.9%)
Mid Dorset & Poole North 269 (0.6%)
Norwich South 310 (0.7%)
Solihull 175 (0.3%)
Wells 800 (1.4%)
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11 Comments
Was Sheffield Central affected by voters being shut out, or just Sheffield Hallam? Legal challenge then by-election, anyone?
Can I profer my humble missing by 799 as a near miss?
🙂
Ed Fordham
Hampstead and Kilburn
Saddly yes Ed. Updated post now that got figures.
Shame about Ashfield. Then again, Gloria de Piero is stunningly gorgeous. So not such a massive loss then.
I can’t believe people were not able to vote. Surely this makes the whole election null and void. Is there any history of this happening before? If it had happened to me, I would not be able to concede that the will of the people had been acknowledged. Or was it a ploy to avoid the suspected result. Can this country go any lower. Surely which ever party you support, we need to change the system. Every person registered on the electoral roll should be able to exercise their vote and if this was not possible, the local authority should be help responsible for the mismanagement of the election. its not rocket science and we have been doing it for years and years albeit with a faulty system. Personally I think we should hold the election again and if we get the same result, then we need to consider what to do. But I think next time the people will be more decisive about who they want to govern them.
Blanco, you obviously don’t live near Ashfield.
We’re stuck with bloody New Labour for a bit longer than necessary. Disaster.
What would you think of a parachuted-in media luvvie candidate who cares so much that she didn’t even turn up to any hustings, at least of the four I checked on?
The definition of “Piero” in the Urban Dictionary is spot on:
1 -Piero
wonderful, great, romantic, italian hottie
2 – Piero
Annoying as hell
Hull North – 641
Sheffield Central wasn’t affected by poll shut-outs.
Henry: ah, of course. Now added.
Well, they weren’t near misses, but I was floored by a number of our other failures to win Labour seats that looked extremely good for us, such as Hampstead & Kilburn, Watford, Liverpool Wavertree, and especially the one I campaigned in, Edinburgh North and Leith. To gain 3,500 extra votes and increase the vote from 29.2 to 33.8% in a four-party political system would ordinarily be more than enough to win. All 13 bookmakers and betting exchanges predicted a Lib Dem win in the final week, and we fought a magnificent local campaign with a great candidate and the most favourable national mood imaginable. Yet Labour added 3,150 extra votes of their own and went up from 34.2% to 37.5%, despite having an MP who supported the worst of the New Labour legacy and was in expenses trouble. We need to think again about our strategy nationally and locally.
“Yet Labour added 3,150 extra votes of their own and went up from 34.2% to 37.5%, despite having an MP who supported the worst of the New Labour legacy and was in expenses trouble. We need to think again about our strategy nationally and locally.”
Or, now we’re in Government, make sure posal votes are scrapped.