Independent wins by a whisker

East London News reports live from Spitalfields & Banglatown by-election count

Result announced at 11.5opm: you read it here first!
Kirsty Blake (Green) 99
Richard MacMillan (Lib Dem) 39
Gulam Robbani (Independent) 1030
Matthew Smith (Conservative) 140
Ala Uddin (Labour) 987

00.45:  This is a much closer result than many were predicting.  Although Gulam Robbani received roughly as many votes as Lutfur Rahman received in May 2010 (pro rata, given the turnout), the Labour vote was resilient and braved the heavy rain to come out and vote in a way it didn’t brave the polling day snow in the December 2010 by-election in this ward.  Much of that must be down to the Labour candidate, Ala Uddin, having a strong connection with Spitalfields – but that’s not the only factor…  Read ELN’s further election analysis tomorrow for shocking news about the Spitalfields vote.

00.30:  The crowd in the press room drifts away.  Although everyone else from the Labour Party has disappeared, they’ve forgotten to take Cllr Bill Turner with them.  He’s been left, uncollected, on a chair in the lift lobby area – in a whimsical trance, like a man planning his next dossier.

00.20:  The crowd of Independents and press surge into the press room and Mayor Lutfur Rahman and Cllr Gulam Robbani say a few words for various Bangla TV stations.  The man from Channel S is there: he is the one whose nameplate at the last Council meeting said “Channel 5” (multiculturalism has obviously not pervaded the whole Town Hall, then).  Mayor Rahman says he was elected to serve all the people of Tower Hamlets: he is still doing that, and he hopes Cllr Robbani will serve all the people of Spitalfields.  Cllr Robbani thanks those who campaigned for him and those who voted for him.  He also promises to serve all those who did not vote for him and calls on them to work with him to forge one, united Spitalfields.  Labour seems to have disappeared.

00.15:  The Lib Dems are delighted.  They stood a paper candidate, and 39 people managed to vote for him.  There’s only a faint whiff of nostalgia for the days when punters flocked to the polls to vote Lib Dem when they were the only opposition to Labour.  Much water has flown under many bridges since those days.  The Tories are nowhere to be seen.  Their vote is roughly half what it was in May 2010 (pro rata, given the lower turnout).

00.05:  The result is announced, delayed by five minutes because no one can find the Independent candidate.

11.40:  News seeps into the press room that a Labour councillor is now, off the record, predicting an Independent majority of 30-40.

11.35:  Officials confirm the result is due around 11.45pm.  It looks as if the piles of Labour votes being counted are edging ahead of the Independent candidate’s votes – but is it enough to make up for the Independent’s lead in the postal votes?  No one is guessing it right now.

11.20:  The count is now well underway.  News from the counting room suggests that the Labour and Independent candidates are neck and neck – though the Independent candidate was ahead on postal votes counted before today.

11.10:  The turnout is confirmed as 31.43%.  In May 2010, the last time all seats in the Borough were contested, the turnout was 56.48%.

11.00:  ELN asks all the political parties for their predictions.  Cllr Peter Golds and Cllr Stephanie Eaton agree (respectively) that we are not due a Tory or Lib-Dem landslide tonight.  Chris Weavers, Chair of Tower Hamlets Labour Party, admits it is “very close”.

10.55:  John Biggs has arrived and comes to say hello to the press.  We ask him for his prediction, and he says: “Lutfur Rahman cannot afford to lose this election and if he does it will be a massive setback for his mayoralty.”

10.20:  The first ballot boxes arrive in the Town Hall.  The press are penned into a press room, away from the count.  Labour leader Josh Peck walks past our door, looking quietly confident.