Sunday, 20 May 2012

LABOUR WINS HOUNSLOW IN THE LONDON ELECTIONS – MAY 2012


Whilst Ken Livingstone narrowly lost to Boris Johnson in the Mayoral race on May 3rd, Labour won the vote across London in the two Assembly ballots.  In the south-west London contest Lisa Homan increased the Labour vote by nearly 20,000 pushing the Liberal Dems into third place for the first time since the London Assembly was formed.  This is remarkable as Hounslow is joined with Tory/Lib Dem-dominated Kingston and Richmond boroughs.
Breaking the figures down to the borough level. Labour beat the Tories by 14 point in Hounslow borough, with almost 47% of the vote [see chart above].  The Lib Dems (7%) were beaten by the Greens on 8%, whilst UKIP polled 5.5%.  Based on this result, Labour would be set to win Hounslow easily in the 2014 Council elections.  In a general election on the new Parliamentary boundaries, Labour would also win Brentford and Isleworth, by about 400 votes.
This analysis is taken from the party (list) ballot, as it takes out any element of personal vote, and excludes the very minor parties and independent candidates.  The ward data only includes those voting at polling stations - over a quarter of voters (16,400) voted by post and these were counted borough-wide.    

Across the whole borough, Labour performed strongly in all the wards where we hold seats as well as Hounslow South and Feltham North where all 6 Councillors are Tories [see  table below for full figures].  In Hanworth Park there were 2 votes in it, and in Osterley and Spring Grove Labour were just over 100 votes behind.  Labour also won the postal vote by about 500.   
These results provide the party with an excellent platform from which to campaign to retain control of Hounslow in 2014, and to win Brentford andIsleworth back in 2015.  However they are a simplification of what will be the real picture on the day particularly in the wards in the Council elections.  Lessons from across the UK on May 3rd showed that good campaigns by local candidates win wards, and that no party, even in “safe” seats can take their victory for granted.
   
Ward
 (B&I shaded)
Labour
Conservative
L/D
Green
UKIP
TOTAL
Postal votes
7344
5768
1240
1180
946
16478
Bedfont
752
583
127
101
172
1735
Brentford
1302
753
235
283
158
2731
Chiswick Homefields 
714
1403
242
338
95
2792
Chiswick Riverside 
741
1460
263
378
83
2925
Cranford 
1288
320
70
72
42
1792
Feltham North
697
521
91
89
135
1533
Feltham West 
893
589
130
113
200
1925
Hanworth
705
480
133
104
156
1578
Hanworth Park
745
747
156
97
199
1944
Heston Central
1113
421
101
105
76
1816
Heston East
1227
442
90
109
72
1940
Heston West 
1518
369
83
100
90
2160
Hounslow Central 
1458
612
128
175
96
2469
Hounslow Heath 
1500
477
158
152
73
2360
Hounslow South 
1333
939
155
233
128
2788
Hounslow West 
1414
399
105
111
56
2085
Isleworth 
1094
653
201
252
162
2362
Osterley &Spring Gr 
1021
1134
187
211
102
2655
Syon 
1088
777
176
339
158
2538
Turnham Green 
713
1262
252
380
101
2708
TOTALS
28660
20109
4323
4922
3300
61314
Percentage
46.7
32.8
7
8
5.4











2 comments:

  1. Although I share your view that Labour will win in 2014 I don't think it is wise to use the results of one type of election to draw conclusions about what will happen in a completely different type of election.

    Please forgive me for citing the Community vote as an example. The ICG won more votes in a single ward at the local elections of 2002, 2006 and even 2010 than it did throughout the Brentford & Isleworth constituency - on a much higher turnout - at the general election of 2005. Voters clearly differentiated between local and national issues and decided the ICG was a more attractive prospect locally than nationally.

    The only sensible comparison to be made from these figures is with the London Assembly elections held in 2008. They certainly show a significant Labour increase at the expense of the Liberal Democrats.

    Psephology can be fun but it can also be dangerous when it strays into the realms of wishful thinking.

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  2. Multiculturalist10 July 2012 at 00:30

    It's interesting that in May 2012 Labour only very narrowly defeated the Tories in Brentford & Isleworth (on the basis of the London Party List Vote). This is despite Labour having a substantial opinion poll lead.

    We can now see how remarkably well Ann Keen did by coming so close to holding the seat in the 2010 general election (when things were much less favourable for Labour).

    In one of his recent blog entries, Phil Andrews had the decency to admit that the former MP comfortably out-performed her party's council candidates in at least one ward (Osterley & Spring Grove).

    This should be a warning to any CLP activists who think B&I will automatically fall back into the Labour column with the Keen factor removed from the equation. The constituency will only be regained with a favourable national trend and a good local campaign.

    ReplyDelete