Labour have won all four by-elections to Greenwich Council, retaining their seats in Kidbrooke with Hornfair, Greenwich West, Shooters Hill and Glyndon wards, while Len Duvall has been elected London Assembly member for Greenwich and Lewisham for a sixth time.
The council results mean Labour returns to having 42 seats on the council, with nine Conservatives forming the opposition. No other parties are represented on the council. The Greens scored third-place finishes in all wards as the Lib Dems struggled across the borough and the Tories saw a lift from their national performance.
While the by-election was held on Thursday, votes were counted on Saturday at Excel in the Royal Docks along with London Assembly and mayoral ballot papers because of Covid-19 measures.
Greenwich’s counts also took place alongside four Lewisham by-elections, referendums on how Newham and Tower Hamlets boroughs are governed and other by-elections in Newham and Barking & Dagenham.
853 was at the count and has video of each declaration and acceptance speech.
Labour faced its toughest contest in Kidbrooke with Hornfair ward, with local unhappiness about measures to promote cycling and cut rat-running traffic and council home-building plans on the Brook Estate.
But Odette McGahey retained a seat made vacant by the death of the popular councillor Christine Grice, picking up 1,928 votes – comfortably ahead of Conservative Andrea Borberly on 1,519 votes.
Carol O’Toole came third for the Greens with 629 votes, Pierce Chalmers scored 261 votes for the Liberal Democrats, just ahead of independent Sharon Kent, who picked up 225 votes.
The result was more complex in Greenwich West, a by-election caused by the resignation of Mehboob Khan to take a senior job at Redbridge Council. Pat Slattery scored a thumping victory for Labour in a ward which has seen controversy because of low-traffic neighbourhood measures, winning with 3,203 votes.
But the fight for second split three ways. Ben Crompton took second place for the Tories, on 1,228 votes, Matt Browne was third for the Greens on 1,135 votes and Lib Dem Rhian O’Connor was just behind on 1,121 – a bitter disappointment for the Lib Dems, who have targeted this ward in the past.
Official Monster Raving Loony Party candidate Trevor Allman, who used his social media presence to rail against the Hills & Vales low-traffic neighbourhood, got 110 votes.
While the Glyndon by-election was held after the conviction of its previous Labour councillor, Tonia Ashikodi, for fraud, her successor notched up a convincing win for the party.
Former Bexley councillor Sandra Bauer romped home with 2,520 votes. Naveed Mughal was a distant second for the Conservatives with 687 votes; Leonie Barron was third for the Greens on 546 votes. Stewart Christie was fourth for the Lib Dems on 402 votes – down on his previous performance in 2018 with the now-deregistered Plumstead Party. Lizzy Hedderly got 87 votes for the Trade Union and Socialist Coalition.
Labour’s Clare Burke-McDonald scored an easy victory in the Shooters Hill by-election, winning with 2,479 votes. The poll was caused by the resignation of Labour’s Chris Kirby, who has moved out of London.
Daniel McGinley picked up 1,286 votes for the Tories; Tamasin Rhymes got 548 votes for the Greens and Ulysse Abbate picked up 262 votes for the Lib Dems.
These will be the last Greenwich Council elections fought on the current boundaries – with a new pattern of wards being brought in for next year’s elections.
Len Duvall won the London Assembly seat of Greenwich & Lewisham for a sixth time, making him the longest-serving assembly member, picking up 82,048 votes. Electronic counting showed a tight battle between Eltham North councillor Charlie Davis for the Tories and Green candidate Rosamund Kissi-Debrah for second, but Davis pulled away with 38,889 votes – the highest vote for a Tory in the super-constituency since it was created 21 years ago.
Kissi-Debrah picked up 30,808 votes – a record for the Greens and 10,000 up on their result five years ago. Chris Annous picked up just 12,744 votes for the Liberal Democrats. Reform UK’s Edward Apostolides got 3,689 votes, while independent Tan Bui got 1,851 votes.
Duvall will take his place among 11 Labour assembly members, against nine Conservatives. The Greens increased their representation from two to three members, while in better news for the Lib Dems, they gained a second assembly member.
Sadiq Khan was elected mayor of London and also won the most first-preference votes in Greenwich and Lewisham, with 76,731 against Tory challenger Shaun Bailey’s 43,306 (see a full breakdown of votes). Sian Berry came third for the Greens both across London and locally, picking up 16,322 first-preferences. Lib Dem Luisa Porritt came fourth and lost her £10,000 deposit.
In Lewisham, Labour also performed a clean sweep, winning all four by-elections in the borough, and 853 also captured the acceptance speeches: Bellingham, Catford South, New Cross and Sydenham. (See full results.)
Updated on Sunday morning to reflect the mayoral vote.
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