An interesting night. Jim Fitzpatrick looked forward to fighting the mayoral campaign with John Biggs. Rushanara Ali welcomed the election of Naz Shah in Bradford West (though that does not appear to have been formally declared) and Rupa Huq and Tulip Saddiqui – three women being the first MPs of Bangladeshi origin. Out into the dawn, and back to Tower Hamlets…. over and out.
05.36 Bethnal Green & Bow result
M Rowshan Ali Communities United Party 356 Rushanara Ali Labour Party 32,3xx Elliot Ball The 30-50 Coalition 78 Jonathan Dewey Cannabis is Safer than Alcohol 303 Alasdair Iain Henderson Whig Party candidate 203 Teena Lashmore Liberal Democrat 2395 Paula McQueen UK Independence Party (UKIP) 3219 Jason Andrew Pavlou Red Flag – Anti-Corruption 58 Alistair Polson Green Party 4906 Glyn Robbins Left Unity – Trade Unionists and Socialists 949 Mat Smith The Conservative Party Candidate 8070
05.30 The Bethnal Green & Bow result is about to be announced.
05.22 We will never know exactly where Labour’s extra 12,000 votes came from, but it is possible that up to 5,000 came from former Respect voters, 5,000 from former Lib Dems and 2,000 from extra electors. If this is the case, it is remarkable that Labour should retain its core vote in this way after fighting a much more slender campaign than last time around.
05.17 In the absence of any serious opposition, and with a huge desire in the electorate to see an end to the Tory Government, Labour’s Jim Fitzpatrick has been returned to Parliament for the fifth time in a seat based on Poplar (but which has had some boundary changes since he was first elected). The Labour vote was up from 18,679 votes in 2010 to nearly 30,000 this time: roughly a 60% increase. The Tories remain in second place, but their vote is virtually unchanged (12,649 to 12,962) – not much to show for another five years working on the Council. The Lib Dem vote has collapsed (8,160 to 2,149) – no surprise there. UKIP has seen their vote roughly quadruple, but at 3,128 (up from 565) the most important point is that they have proved they are not serious players in the borough. The Greens have seen a similar percentage rise, for similarly little point – 449 votes last time, to 2,463 this time. Respect candidate George Galloway won 5,209 votes last time, but TUSC candidate Hugo Pierre won only 367 this time around. The overall number of electors in this constituency is up from 74,955 to 82,081. The turnout is similar: 62.98% last time, and 62.44% this time.
04.58 Poplar & Limehouse Result Elaine Bagshaw Liberal Democrats 2149 Maureen Childs Green Party 2463 Jim Fitzpatrick Labour Party 298xx Rene Claudel Mugenzi Ref Flat – Anti-Corruption 89 Nicholas McQueen UK Independence Party (UKIP) 3128 Hugo Pierre Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition 367 Chris Wilford The Conservative Party candidate 12962 [xx indicates number inaudible]
04.50 We have just been given notice that the Poplar result will be declared in five minutes! Yay!
04.45 Maybe this is why Tower Hamlets has such a poor record as far as counts are concerned. Fully 20 minutes since the agents were called up, we are still waiting for a result to be declared. The press were promised 15 minutes notice of any announcement. Nearly 200 constituency results are in: where’s ours?
04.25 Tower Hamlets estimated that the result would be announced around now – and, indeed, counting has finished in Poplar and Limehouse. The agents have been called up to the table for the final adjudications. We should have the result soon – and Bethnal Green won’t be far behind. The rumours are that Labour has won handsomely, with increased majorities.
03.50 This is hard. Everyone is suffering. The press pack have stopped taking photos of each other. Everyone is sat around, looking jaded. The numbers of party activists staying the course is diminishing. Rumours are running round the press pen: has Galloway lost his seat? No one is sure. The strangest rumour is that the Tories are on the verge of winning one of the Tower Hamlets seats: the Tories here deny it. No one’s talking about the prospect of another Tory government.
03.35 Sorry for the hiatus: we were off air to charge our trusty laptop. There are only a couple of sockets in the press pen, so it’s not possible to charge and work at the same time. Another issue Tower Hamlets overlooked in its rush to book an out of borough venue…