Yes we Khan!

LONDON ELECTION SPECIAL
@sw_Londoner
www.swlondoner.co.uk
Saturday, May 7th 2016
Labour maintain control of London Assembly
page 20
Zac sent back to
‘Gorgeous George’
Greens take
Richmond after
now wants Khan’s
third in Mayoral
campaign flop page 3
Tooting seat
race
page 2
page 10
Yes we Khan!
London elects its first Muslim mayor in landslide
By Ross Lawson at City Hall
SADIQ KHAN became the first Muslim
Mayor of London in a landslide Labour
victory over fellow south west London
MP Zac Goldsmith.
Following eight years of Conservative
London rule under Boris Johnson in City
Hall, Labour’s Mr Khan will take on the
largest personal mandate for any political
office in the UK.
The Tooting MP secured a majority following
the second preference votes with
a total of 1,310,143 votes.
More than 45% of the electorate
turned out to vote,the highest ever figure
in the capital,with celebrations pouring in
for Mr Khan long before the result was
confirmed.
The news coupled with Labour success
in the London Assembly elections
was a major boost for Jeremy Corbyn,
who saw his party fail to make gains
elsewhere in the UK and reduced to
third party status in Scotland.
Conservative mayoral candidate and
Richmond Park MP Mr Goldsmith was
runner up with a total of 994,614 votes.
Green candidate Sian Berry surprised
expectations to finish third ahead
of Liberal Democrat Caroline Pidgeon.
It was also a night to forget for controversial
Respect candidate George
Galloway, who finished in a distant seventh
and will now reset his sights on
succeeding Mr Khan as MP for Tooting.
Mr Khan led the polls for the majority
of the campaign, vowing to unite the
capital after a sometimes brutal and
bruising election campaign, which saw
both Labour and Conservative sides
accused of racism.
He said:“I hope that we will never be
offered such a stark choice again and I
am so proud that London has chosen
hope and unity over fear and division.
“Politics of fear are not welcome in
our city.”
The back-biting continued even
during Mr Khan’s victory speech as
Britain First candidate Paul Golding
turned his back on the new Mayor.
In the Assembly,Labour has retained
their majority with 12 seats in total while
Conservatives are down by one.

Saturday, May 7th 2016
2 ELECTION SPECIAL
wwww.swlondoner.co.uk
Morgan uses cover of election day
to announce u-turn on academies
By SWL Reporters
IN AN embarrassing u-turn the
government abandoned plans
to force all schools to become
academies yesterday.
Education secretary Nicky
Morgan released the news in
the midst of an array of national
election results,just days
after insisting the controversial
plans would go ahead.
The timing of the announcement
was heavily criticised as
an attempt to‘bury’the news.
“I thought it always was a
fundamental weakness in the
policy,”said Conservative’s
London Assembly member
Andrew Boff.
“The whole Conservative
message is about letting
people choose locally how
they provide education.I’m
delighted at the u-turn.”
The policy would have
meant that all schools would
have to convert to academies
by 2020 or be committed to
converting by 2022.
Under the new review good
or outstanding schools will no
longer be forced to change.
Ms Morgan said:“Having listened
to the feedback from
parliamentary colleagues and
the education sector,we will
now change the path to reaching
that goal.”
The announcement is in
stark contrast to the Tory insistance
that the academy route
was the gold standard for
future education.
Shadow education secretary
Lucy Powell said:“It is
frankly a humiliating climbdown
for David Cameron and
his education secretary,who
just weeks ago were insisting
they would plough on with the
policy regardless.”
The backpedalling comes
days after headteachers
threatened industrial action
after they voted overwhelmingly
against the policy.
Many Conservative MPs
and councils also objected to
the plans,criticising the government
for forcing high
performing schools to convert,
arguing that it is a waste
of money for establishments
already doing well.
There were concerns that
small rural schools would be
forced to close but yesterday’s
revision included measures to
protect them.
The government hopes that
good and outstanding schools
will still choose academisation
and is convinced that would
further raise standards.
Under revised plans underperforming
schools will still be
forced to convert.
Academies are independently
run but state-funded
schools overseen by academy
trusts,not-for-profit businesses,
rather than local councils.
However Mr Boff defended
the decision to backtrack on
the decision,saying that it was
demonstrative of democracy at
work in the party.
DECISION: Tory
Assembly
member Andrew
Boff welcomes
change on school
academy plans
“The great principle of parents’
choice would’ve been
eradiacted.The end is right,
the means were wrong.”
- Conservative AM Education
PanelTony Arbourn
“It would have been a nightmare
to implement,so it
shows that they’re on the
run on this.”
- Outgoing Green AM
member Darren Johnson
“Now we have the power to
do this we can remind them
of who they work for.”
- Chair, London Assembly
Education Panel, Jenette
Arnold, Labour AM
“This is about being a listening
government and I would
consider myself to be a listening
secretary of state.”
- Education secretary
Nicky Morgan MP
No Respect: Just 37,007 votes but
Galloway wants to be Tooting MP
By Thomas Deacon
LONDON’S utter rejection of George
Galloway could be heard loudly across
the capital with the Respect candidate
receiving just 1% of the mayoral vote.
Britain First’s Paul Golding was close
on his heels with 31,372 votes and Lee
Harris,who advocates the legalisation of
cannabis,wasn’t far behind with 20,537.
Newly-formedWomen’s Equality
Party sounded thrashed the veteran
campaigner with 53,005 and UKIP
regained two seats they lost in 2008 to
rejoin the London Assembly.
Mr Galloway chose not to attend City
Hall last night,instead choosing to tweet
from the gym,drawing criticism from
‘disappointed’party supporters.
Mr Galloway’s manifesto promised
free transport for students and key workers,
and demanded that London
received greater powers over the NHS
under his slogan‘A London for all not
just those dripping in gold’.
Despite Mr Galloway receiving a
resounding no from London,he has
already promised to stand in the Tooting
by-election triggered after Labour MP
Sadiq Khan was elected mayor and is
expected to step down from his seat.
Mr Galloway has even set up a provisional
agreement to establish his
election HQ in the borough,clearly convinced
that it’ll all be different this time
around.
Mr Galloway actually performed
better than expected,with a recent
YouGov poll putting him on 0% support.
Despite the appalling prediction the
veteran politician was adamant he
would finish at least third in the race.
He said:“My name wasn’t put to
YouGov poll respondents so it’s invalid.
“Polls are fairly busted flush in elections,
otherwise we’d be going into the
second year of Prime Minister Ed
Miliband’s reign.”
During his long political career Mr
Galloway has received criticism for his
views on Israel and believes the anti-
QUICK RESULTS IN SOUTH WEST LONDON & BEYOND
semitism row engulfing Labour is part of
a wider plot from disgruntled Blairites.
“It’s a complete fabrication.A synthetic
attempt to create a firestorm,to create
a smokescreen for a slow motion coup
against Corbyn to speed up,”he said.
“Since the day and hour Corbyn was
elected they have been planning not
whether,but how,to get rid of him and
this has been their weapon of choice.”
Mr Galloway also doesn’t believe Ken
Livingstone should apologise for his
comments on Zionism.
He said:“You can’t really force someone
to withdraw the truth.”
SOUTH WEST, WEST CENTRAL
CROYDON & SUTTON
HOW THE NEW LONDON
ASSEMBLY WILL LOOK
MERTON & WANDSWORTH,
LAMBETH & SOUTHWARK
12 +0 8 -1 1 -1 2 +0
2 +2

Saturday, May 7th 2016
MOVE over Boris, London has a
new mayor, who swept to power
with a landslide win last night and
promised to unite a city divided
by a bruising and brutal campaign
from which few emerged
with credibility.
Sadiq Khan became the most
powerful Muslim politician in
Europe after beating Conservative
rival Zac Goldsmith into
second place.
Labour candidate Mr Khan, 45,
ran on a campaign stressing how
London is now at a crossroads in its
history stating that inequality is
continually rising.
The Tooting MP – who is nowexpected
to resign his seat in
parliament – will be sworn into
office in City Hall to begin his
four-year term after receiving
44% of the vote against Goldsmith’s
35% share.
After a difficult day for Labour
the win was a much-needed boost
for leader Jeremy Corbyn (pictured
below), who has been
conspicious by his absence on Mr
Khan’s campaign trial.
In his winning speech Mr Khan
said:“I am so proud of our city.I am
deeply humbled by the hope and
trust you have placed in me today.
“I never dreamed that someone
like me could be let in to be mayor
of London.
“I want every single Londoner
to have the same opportunities
that this city has given me,not just
to survive but to thrive with a
decent and affordable home and a
comfortable commute.”
The election of Mr Khan was
seen as a key test for the Labour
party as many of its former councils
changed hands, its previous
power base in Scotland was decimated,
and it lost its majority in
theWelsh Assembly.
The victory of the son of a bus
driver was the exception, suggesting
it was the man who won
rather than the party.
Previously a human rights
lawyer Mr Khan promised to
freeze allTfL fares for the next four
years, with his ‘fully funded plan’
aiming to protect investment and
improve services.
Mr Khan has only appeared
with Mr Corbyn twice throughout
his campaign,despite the fact that
he nominated his fellow London
MP as party leader.
Mr Corbyn said:“Can't wait to
work with you to create a London
that is fair for all!”
He will assume his role
with the largest mandate
given to an individual in
the UK and will become a
key figure in the Labour
party's increasingly
uncertain future.
Unease over Mr
Corbyn’s potential to be
elected to
Number 10
ELECTION SPECIAL
Zac pays price for poor campaign
WOE: Richmond MP Goldsmith never made running
By Thomas Deacon
By Anna MacSwan
MAYORAL loser Zac Goldsmith
blamed his defeat on
the fact that ‘London is very
much a Labour city’.
The Richmond Park Conservative
MP took 35% of the
vote but lost out to Sadiq
Khan’s 44.2%.
However he was gracious
in defeat congratulating Mr
Khan on his win, saying he
wished him well as he sets
out to build on the successes
of his predecessor.
He said: “I think it was
Busdriver’s
sontakes
thewheel
andvows
tounite
thecity
going to be really very difficult
for anybody other than
the Labour candidate to win
in London.
“On the day David
Cameron won a majority for
the Conservatives, what was
really significant was that
Labour’s vote nationally was
only 31%.
“In London it was 44%.
That was always going to be
difficult.
“We’re a year on into a
Conservative government
and no government is ever
very popular mid-term.”
has led sections of the party seek a
successor, and Mr Khan’s name
will now undoubtedly gain more
credibility - just as rumours persist
that Boris Johnson will use City
Hall as a springboard to Downing
Street.
Many members of the shadow
cabinet have privately highlighted
the contrast between Mr Khan’s
inclusive approach to campaigning
and Mr Corbyn’s more
resolute stance that has put many
moderates off.
Mr Khan said:“This election has
not been without controversy.
“I hope that we will never
be offered such a stark
choice again and I am so
proud that London has
chosen hope and unity
over fear and division.
Politics of fear are not welcome
in our city.”
Mr Khan faced an often
vicious backlash against
his alleged links to
Mr Goldsmith’s campaign
was criticised,even by some
within his own party,for portraying
Mr Khan who is
Muslim, and of Pakistani
descent, as having extremist
links during the contest.
His journalist sister Jemina
Khan tweeted that she was
‘sad that Zac's campaign did
not reflect who I know him to
be an eco friendly, independent,
minded politician
with integrity’.
Andrew Boff, who stood
against Mr Goldsmith in the
Tory mayoral candidate contest
and was re-elected to the
GLA, said Mr Goldsmith’s
‘outrageous’ campaign had
‘blown up bridges’.
Others were quick to
defend Mr Goldsmith including
former Epping Forest MP
Steve Norris.
He said:“We’ve had Brexit
hanging over us and that has
made things doubly difficult.
“It would’ve been an
almost impossible task for
any Conservative to win.
“We can criticise Zac’s
campaign but I think this
result was pretty inevitable.”
PROMISE: Sadiq Khan and
wife Saadiya are London’s
new first couple and he’s the
first Labour mayor in eight
years
extremism, with his opponents
questioning his judgement after
sharing a panel with Islamic
extremists.
Conservative rival Mr Goldsmith
was attacked for exploiting
the issue,culminating in a Mail on
Sunday article days before the
election that drew heavy criticism
after using an image of the 7/7
London bombing.
Mr Khan said: “I have been
thinking a lot about my late father
today.He was a wonderful man.
“He would have been so proud
that the city he chose to call his
home has now chosen one of his
children to be Mayor.
Mr Khan’s manifesto put housing
as his top priority,setting a target
ensuring that 50% of all new
homes are‘affordable.’
The housing crisis has dominated
much of the mayoral
campaign with the prospect of
home-ownership becoming an
distant dream for many people.
www.swlondoner.co.uk
3
Britain
First loser
turns back
on Sadiq
speech
By Morgan Condon
BRITAIN First’s Paul Golding
turned his back on new
London Mayor Sadiq
Khan’s inaugural speech in
a calculated show of disrespect
towards the man he
labelled‘dangerous’.
TheWomen’s Equality
Party indicted they will
make a formal complaint to
the returning officer about
the display.
Mr Golding denied
being a sore loser and
claimed he had never
entertained hopes of
becoming London’s premier
as his party had only
used the election to court
media attention.
“I think the fact that
Sadiq Khan’s a Muslim, he
got all the Muslim votes,
blew him out of the water
completely,”he said.
“All this pandering to
Islam and minorities has
got to stop because the way
politics is going, everyone’s
pandering to
minorities.”
He claimed Labour’s
‘hardline left wing bigots’
had taken over and chosen
Mr Khan as mayor.
Hesaid his only regret of
the evening was‘coward’
George Galloway’s no show
at City Hall.
Someone
needs a
spelling
lesson
By Joe Sheppard
ORGANISERS at London
mayoral counts were left
red-faced after spelling
‘assembly’incorrectly on
press wristbands.
The mistake was noticed
across the city as the bands
contained an extra‘e’to the
word, making it‘assembley’.
SamTobin at Olympia
tweeted a picture of the
blunder with the caption:
“They've spelt "Assembly"
wrong...oh dear #London-
Elections”

Saturday, May 7th 2016
www.swlondoner.co.uk
4 SOUTH WEST
CONSERVATIVE HOLD
Defeated
TONY ARBOUR
MARTIN WHELTON
ROSINA ROBSON
south west 84,381 0.3% 62,937 0.7% 30,654
candidates
Tony Arbour (Conservative Party), Martin Whelton (Labour Party), Rosina Robson (Liberal Democrats), Andree
gracious in Frieze (Green Party) 19,745, Alexander Craig (UK Independence Party) 14,983
their loss
TURNOUT
2012 Result: Conservative Party: 69,151 (39.8%), Labour: 49,889
(28.7%), Liberal Democrats: 28,947 (16.7%), Green Party: 17,070
By SWL reporters
213,765 (9.8%), UK Independence Party: 8,505 (4.9%)
LOSING candidates for the
South West London GLA seat
met defeat with positivity
yesterday afternoon.
Runner-up, Labour’s
Martin Whelton, lost out on
the top spot to Conservative’s
Tony Arbour with
62,937 votes to winner Mr
Arbour’s 84,381.
Despite the defeat Mr
Whelton stood tall, congratulating
his team on securing
a clear second place.
“My team fought a fantastic
election across all three
boroughs Hounslow, Richmond
and Kingston and I am
incredibly proud of all of our
achievements here today,”
said the gracious runner-up.
“Sad and disappointed
that I lost but we move on
now to the next chapter and I
live to fight another day.”
The Merton councillor
also criticised the
Conservatives tactics in the
campaign for the London
mayoral election.
He said: “I think it has
been absolutely disgraceful
that a Conservative campaign
for the mayoral team
has been a dog-whistle campaign
which has played on
people’s fears.
“Using words like ‘radical’
and ‘extremist’, I am
glad that London has seen
through that.”
Coming in third with
30,654 votes Rosina Robson
was pleased to retain the
Liberal Democrats third
place position from the
previous elections.
The Lib Dems have faced
a difficult election season
following the damaging
coalition government but
Ms Robson still has faith in
the party.
She said: “I think there are
so many fighters and so
many people within the
party who are really positive
and they just want to get out
there and do things and
work in the local
community.”
The results also show an
increase in votes for the
UKIP candidate, Alan Craig,
who achieved 14,983 up 76%
on the last election’s 8,505.
The Green Party’s candidate,
Andree Frieze gained a
respectable 19,745 votes.
Despite this Ms Frieze
took to Twitter to vocalise
her critism of the Conservatives
winning candidate.
He said: “Seems Tony
Arbour will keep his seat at
City Hall.
The man who said 'Zac is
the light & Sadiq the dark' at
a hustings. Shameful.”
Tory winner says Londoners
made mistake not voting Zac
By SWL Reporter
THE five-time winning GLA
member for the SouthWest constituency
thinks the public made
a mistake voting Sadiq Khan as
mayor.
Councillor Tony Arbour held
off competition from Labour’s
Councillor MartinWhelton to
hold the GLA seat that he has
occupied ever since the first
election in 2000.
However he challenged the
public’s choice of voting for Mr
Khan as Mayor of London,
believing people disagreed with
the Tory plan for the capital.
He said:“What was important
as far as Londoners were concerned
is that the capital should
continue to remain the most
attractive place for businesses
and to live.
“In that context one had to
consider what it is that makes it
such a marvellous place and I
and the policies of Zac Goldsmith
showed a way which
we thought that London
could be made better.
“The people of London
have possibly disagreed
with us and if they have
then they have made a
mistake.”
Although Mr Khan won
the mayoral election,Mr
Arbour is not concerned
about working with him.
“I think that we will all
have a jolly good working
relationship,
in the days
of Ken Livingstone the Conservative
party got on extremely well
with him,”he said.
“In Boris’time,the Labour
party worked
extremely well
with Boris so I
have no
reason to
believe that
our everyday
working
relationship
will be anything
but
pleasant.”
The South
West
constituency,
which is made
up of the
London boroughs of Hounslow,
Richmond-Upon-Thames and
Kingston-Upon-Thames,has
been a Conservative stronghold
for 16 years,with Labour again
failing to gain ground.
Reflecting on the changes he
has seen over his 16 years in the
London Assembly,he said:
“When I first became a member
the budget was £3 billion and
now the budget is £17 billion.
“The powers of the mayor in
particular have increased out of
all proportion.”
However he acknowledged
public perception to the London
elections has changed over the
years.
“It is quite clear that the
mayoralty is now an established
part of London life.
BLUE IS THE
COLOUR:Tony Arbour
celebrating his win with
supporter Jason Hughes
PICTURE: @Jason_Hughes via
Twitter
2.4%
“The turn out in this election,
which is truly astonishing as it is a
local election after all,demonstrates
that the people of London
think that the GLA and the
mayoralty have improved.”
Cllr Arbour is a Richmond
councillor for the HamptonWick
ward and former leader of
Richmond Council.
He was first elected as
councillor in 1971 and is
currently the cabinet member
for community safety.
He is keen to improve the
safety and environment of the
borough along with improving
access to the river.
Conservatives received a total
of 39.5% of the votes in the
constituency,0.3% less than in
the 2012 election.
FOR THE LATEST NEWS FROM THE LONDON ELECTIONS VISIT WWW.SWLONDONER.CO.UK

www.swlondoner.co.uk Saturday, May 7th 2016
WEST CENTRAL CONSERVATIVE HOLD
5
Tories hold West Central seat
but Labour puts on pressure
Conservative
surge denies
SNP absolute
majority in
Holyrood
By Oliver Trebilcock
By SWL reporters
CONSERVATIVE candidate
Tony Devenish won the West
Central GLA seat maintaining
his party’s 16-year streak in
the constituency.
He received 44.2% of the
vote beating Labour’s Mandy
Richards on 34.7%.
Mr Devenish said that his
victory yesterday was a great
honour.
He added:“This gives us
the chance to thank all the
TONY DEVENISH
people who worked so hard
to get us to this position.”
Ms Richards remained positive
despite the result –
which saw her party make
a 4.9% gain from the previous
election.
“We’ve certainly closed
that gap and next time around
we could look at this as a
marginal seat and hope to
take it from the Tories,” she
said at the Olympia count.
“It has been traditionally a
Tory stronghold so it was an
TURNOUT
uphill climb in terms of getting
that swing that we
needed.But I think the results
speak for themselves.
“We’ve made significant
gains and I don’t think that is
anything to sneer at in terms
of the positive outcome
for Labour supporters in
Kensington and Chelsea,
Fulham, Hammersmith and
Westminster. I think we are
seeing a turn around.”
In third place was the
Green Party’s Jennifer Nadel
MANDY RICHARDS
(9.1%) followed by London
Lib Dem Annabel Mullin
(6.8%) and UKIP’s Clive Egan
(5%).The Conservatives have
won every election in West
Central since the GLA was set
up in 2000.
Mr Devenish denied that
Tory votes in London suffered
as a result of criticisms
concerning the nature of Zac
Goldsmith’s mayoral campaign
against Sadiq Khan.
“It wasn’t controversial,”he
said. “Zac fought a great
campaign and it was a
pleasure to be involved in it.”
Mr Devenish has represented
Knightsbridge and Belgravia
in Westminster City Council
since May 2006.
And he has previously
been Cabinet Member for
Public Health.
His victory means he succeeds
Kit Malthouse who
served in the West Central
seat for eight years.
Mr Malthouse is stepping
down from the post after
becoming an MP for North
West Hampshire last year.
Jennifer Nadel
67,775 4% 53,222 5% 14,050 1%
Tony Devenish (Conservative Party), Mandy Richards (Labour Party), Jennifer Nadel (Green Party), Annabel Mullin
(Liberal Democrats) 10,577, Clive Egan (UK Independence Party) 7,708
153,332
2012 result: Conservative: 70,870 (48.2%), Labour: 43,754 (29.8%),
Green: 12,059 (8.2%), Liberal Democrats: 8,645 (5.9%), UKIP: 4,674
(3.2%), CAP: 1,992 (1.4%), BNP: 1,774 (1.2%), Other: 3,242 (2.2%)
FOR THE LATEST NEWS FROM THE LONDON ELECTIONS VISIT WWW.SWLONDONER.CO.UK
THE SNP failed to get a
second absolute majority
in Holyrood as the resurgent
Conservatives made
large gains.
Nicola Sturgeon’s party
won 63 out of 129 seats in
the Scottish Parliament as
the Tories surged 8.1% to
gain 31 MSPs, beating Scottish
Labour who obtained
24 MSPs.
In a historic move, the
Conservatives have
become the second-largest
party in the Scottish Parliament,
gaining 16 seats as
the SNP lost six and Scottish
Labour lost 13.
The Greens also beat the
Liberal Democrats.
It is the third successive
victory for the SNP, but
after just missing out on a
majority by two seats, it is
thought the party may aim
to form a coalition with the
Greens in order to have
control at Holyrood.
In a surprising surge,
Scottish Conservatives
leader Ruth Davidson
wrested the Edinburgh
Central constituency from
the SNP.
In further good news for
the resurgent party, her
deputy Jackson Carlaw
defeated Labour’s Ken
Macintosh — who has held
the seat since the parliament’s
foundation in 1999 –
in Eastwood.
In 2011 the SNP won 69
seats out of 129 — a clear
majority — showing signs
that the party’s dominance
had peaked.
A terrible night for Scottish
Labour saw them lose
13 seats, plummeting their
total to 24.
The Scottish Greens won
six seats, seeing them
become the fourth largest
party in Holyrood ahead of
the Liberal Democrats
on five.
The Scottish voting
system is designed to
prevent one party winning
a majority, so the fact that
the SNP achieved this in
2011 was a formidable
achievement.
Holyrood’s Additional
Member System works
through electing 73 MSPs
through a first-past-thepost
‘winner takes all’
system and 56 regional
MSPs from eight electoral
regions through a proportional
representation
system – designed to prevent
majorities by
representing smaller
parties.

Saturday, May 7th 2016
6
CROYDON & SUTTON
Ahmad is
unsure on
plans for
2020 GLA
election
By Tom Phillips and
Sam Tobin
LABOUR candidate Marina
Ahmad is looking forward to
a family birthday and admitted
she is sceptical about
running in the 2020 London
Assembly Election.
Ms Ahmad came second
to Conservative incumbent
Stephen O’Connell increasing
the number of votes from
50,734 in 2012 to 58,542.
Yet despite the positive
gains in her campaign, the
former Crown Prosecution
Service barrister said the
first thing she is going to do
is focus on her family.
She said:“What is next for
me is that I have a family
birthday, it was my daughter’s
birthday onThursday
when it was polling day and
still needs to be celebrated.
“I haven’t seen her
actually.
“Let’s just have a bit of a
rest, a rethink and then
think about what lies in store
for the future.”
Despite seeing his lead
increase, Mr O’Connell
complimented Ms Ahmad
on a hard fought campaign
and the Labour candidate
hopes this will have a
positive effect for Croydon
and Sutton.
She said:“We put issues
on the table that were not
basically considered before
and I think that is something
Steve O’Connell will take
into consideration when he
is making his decisions.
“The other issue of course
that really needs to be
considered is that the Sutton
Lib Dem vote has completely
collapsed so that is
something I think we need to
be working on exploiting
Sutton.”
The London Mayoral Election
has been marred with
controversy from Zac Goldsmith’s
campaign team for
smearing Labour candidate
Sadiq Khan and Ms Ahmad
wanted Mr O’Connell to condemn
their actions.
She said:“Steve O’Connell
is a decent bloke.
“I would have liked it if he
would distance himself from
what we feel as a quite disgusting
and quite
disgraceful campaign run
by Zac Goldsmith.”
“We don’t want someone
like Zac Goldsmith as
Mayor of London and
basically London does not
want him clearly.
“I wish he stood back and
said‘No what Zac is doing is
actually nasty, it’s not right
and too divisive.’”
STEVE O’CONNELL
By Tom Phillips and Sam
Tobin
CONSERVATIVE Stephen
O’Connell defended Zac
Goldsmith after he was reelected
for a third term as
Croydon and Sutton’s
Assembly Member.
He came to the defence of
Mr Goldsmith’s campaign
team despite calls from
Labour candidate Marina
Ahmad to denounce the
Conservative London Mayor
candidate’s tactics against
Labour’s Sadiq Khan.
Mr Goldsmith was criticised
by Labour’s candidate
for Croydon and Sutton Ms
Ahmad who described their
campaign as ‘disgusting, disgraceful
and divisive’.
TURNOUT
Mr O’Connell stated it was
down to interpretation.
He said:“It is a matter of
opinion whether they are
nasty tactics but there has
been some controversy
around that and I have said
in truth Zac never really
brought out some of his
positive policies.
“Knowing Zac as I
have done over the last
six months he has some
very strong and positive
attributes in the environment.
“I just don’t think the
campaign played on that.”
Yet despite the calls to
condemn the mayoral candidate,
the
Croydon
MARINA AHMAD
councillor spoke highly of
his Labour counterpart and
the campaign she led.
Mr O’Connell said:“I knew
it would be close.
“My opponent, Marina
Ahmad, had a brilliant campaign,
she did a very
good job but in
truth I
increased my
majority and I
am very
happy with the
result.”
The Assembly
Member
hopes he will
build a
positive
relationship with the new
mayor equally encourage
investment in Croydon and
Sutton, similar to the ones he
had with vacating Mayor
Boris Johnson.
“First of all, what we want
to do is to see the new mayor.
I need to get in front of the
new mayor and point out the
strategic importance of
Croydon and Sutton,” he
said.
“We had a good record
under the previous mayors
under my eight years but
there is still unfinished
business.
“I need the new mayor to
make sure that he understands
that Croydon and
Sutton are the places to
www.swlondoner.co.uk
CONSERVATIVE HOLD
AMNA AHMAD
70,156 1% 58,542 1% 18,859 4%
Steve O’Connell (Conservative Party) 70,156, Marina Ahmad (Labour Party) 58,542, Amna Ahmad (Liberal Democrats)
18,859, Tracey Hague (Green Party) 13,513, Peter Staveley (UKIP) 18,338, Others 2,492
181,900
2012 result: Conservative Party 60,152 (39.1%), Labour Party 50,734
(33%), Liberal Democrats 21,889 (14.2%), UKIP 10,757 (6.9%), Green
Party 10,287 (6.6%)
CASUAL: Campaigning at
East Croydon station
(left-right): Stephen
O’Connell, Zac Goldsmith,
Gavin Barwell and Chris
Philp
O’Connell increases majority
and defends Zac Goldsmith
invest and we go on this from
day one.”
Official figures saw Mr
O’Connell’s majority rise
from 9,418 to 11,614 despite
early indications showing
the results would be a lot
closer.
Mr O’Connell was first
elected back in May 2008
when he succeeded Andrew
Pelling with a majority of
42,665 and since then his
majority reduced in 2012 to
9,418.
He was appointed Police
and Crime advisor for Mr
Johnson in 2010.
Despite an increase in the
turnout, only the Green Party
and UKIP saw their vote
share increase by 3.2%.
FOR THE LATEST NEWS FROM THE LONDON ELECTIONS WWW.SWLONDONER.CO.UK

LAMBETH and Southwark
winner Florence Eshalomi
said it was being ‘tall for her
age’ as a child that led her to
forging a career in politics.
She thrashed competition
by securing 96,946 votes
compared to Conservative
Robert Flint, who received
only 34,703.
The long-standng Labour
member showed up to ExCeL
with a brand new hairstyle to
celebrate her victory over six
rival parties.
“Getting into politics for
me was really to do with
seeing what was going on on
the estate,” she said.
“I was tall for my age when
I was younger so I started
standing up to some of the
bullies and the gangs.”
The Lambeth Councillor
has come a long way since
starting her working life at 16
with a job in Sainsbury’s
before becoming the first
member of her family to
attend university, studying
politics and law.
In 2006 she was elected to
represent Brixton Hill ward on
Lambeth Council, a position
she has maintained.
Ms Eshalomi said: “I feel
excited and very,very grateful
to the wonderful residents
across Lambeth and Southwark
for giving me this
opportunity.
“This election has been
very positive and I’m very
proud of being part of Team
Labour across London.
She tweeted:“Now let’s turn
City Hall red!”
Thursday’s voting saw 43%
of Lambeth and Southwark
turn out to vote.
Her victory means that
Labour will maintain their
Lambeth and Southwark seat
after Valerie Shawcross won
52.8% of the vote four years
ago in the last election.
The road to success was not
always easy for Ms Eshalomi
as she received opposition
from Momentum — a Labour
group who labelled her policies
as ‘Blairite’.
www.swlondoner.co.uk Saturday, May 7th 2016
LAMBETH & SOUTHWARK LABOUR HOLD 7
‘I thought 5we
could take
the Tories’
say Greens
Height of success! Labour
win for Florence Eshalomi
By SWL Reporters
ROBERT FLINT
The group planned to
picket her ‘pizza and politics’
event causing Streatham MP
Chuka Umunna to tweet his
outrage in her defence.
As a cabinet member she
has previously spent time
campaigning to save Lambeth
libraries and worked for
the UK’s leading race equality
think-tank.
“Out of 63 councillors,not a
lot of them looked like me
and their policies affect
people like me,” she said.
TURNOUT
“I wanted to find out what
was going on in that town hall
that I walked past every day.”
During her campaign she
supported providing more
affordable houses, giving
Londoners ‘first dibs’ and
taking action on high rent.
“The top priority has to be
housing and how to fix the
housing crisis across Lambeth
and Southwark.”
She said the Mayor needed
to work with councillors who
make decisions on planning
FLORENCE ESHALOMI
applications and that he
could not do it by himself.
“Some issues I campaign
on can only be
achieved by a Labour
Mayor,” she said.
Ms Eshalomi beat off
competition from the
Green Party’s Rashid Nix
who claimed 25,793
votes along with Liberal
Democrats candidate
Michael Buloka, UK
Independence
Party candidate
Idham Ramadi, Socialist
Party’s Kevin Parkin and
All People’s Party and
Amadu Kanumansa
who slowly trailed
behind with just
906 votes.
She lives in
Brixton with her
husband Matthew
and baby Mia and
also cares for her
mother who suffers
from sickle cell
anaemia.
RASHID NIX
96,946 21,489
34,703 0.9% 1.2% 1.2%
Florence Eshalomi (Labour Party), Robert Flint (Conservative Party), Rashid Nix (Green Party), Michael Adewale
Bukola (Caroline Pidgeon’s London Liberal Democrats) 21,489, Idham Ramadi (UK Independence Party) 6,591
187,761
2012 result: Labour Party: 83,239 (52.8%), Conservative Party: 30,537
(19.4%), Liberal Democrats: 18,359 (11.6%), Green Party: 18,144 (11.5%)
FOR THE LATEST NEWS FROM THE LONDON ELECTIONS VISIT WWW.SWLONDONER.CO.UK
By SWL Reporters
GREEN party loser Rashid
Nix apologised to his team
yesterday after admitting
he thought they could‘take
theTories easily.’
The former filmmaker
received just 25,793 votes,
placing him in third place
behind Conservative’s
Robert Flint who gained
34,703.
However, neither candidate
was in with a chance
of winning as Labour
party’s Florence Eshalomi
stormed to first place with
96,946 votes.
“I apologise to my team,
Lambeth and Southwark,
my agent because when it
came down to it, in my
mind I was playing for
second,”Mr Nix said.
“I was like, we could
take theTories easy and at
the hustings we’d wipe the
floor with them so when
polls show you lost to
people you defeated you
think urgh.”
Despite his disappointment,
he agreed that the
Green Party was at tipping
point, saying that they are
the only party that doesn’t
‘serve up the same thing or
politics of fear.’
He said:“Everyone else
is in suits but I came down
in my fly boy glasses.
Check the shoes.”
However,Tory loser Mr
Flint was pleased with
second place, saying that
he did not think it was an
unfortunate result.
“I am proud to get the
most votes a Conservative
has ever got in Lambeth
and Southwark,”he said.
It was the first time the
London lawyer had been to
the ExCel centre since
completing his law exams
through a night school
while working as a
researcher in Parliament.
“In the ExCeL Centre for
the first time since BPP
Law School exams.This
feels more like watching
someone mark your homework
though,”he tweeted.
He compared his defeat
to Labour’s unexpectedslide
into third place in
Scotland, saying that it
shows there is‘no such
thing as a safe seat.’
“It’s strange, everyone
has been talking about the
same problems but we just
have slightly different solutions.
I’ve been saying
again and again, it’s a war
on all fronts,”he said.
“Labour have a lot of
ideas to bring to the table
but I do worry that they will
use their 50% of the count
to put development costs
up and if that happens it
will be a great shame.”

Saturday, May 7th 2016
8
MERTON & WANDSWORTH
www.swlondoner.co.uk
LAB WIN
Labour falls
short of
majority in
Wales as
UKIP surge
By Lauren Windle
LABOUR fell short of a
Welsh Assembly majority
while UKIP celebrated
unprecedented success as
the final regional seats
were announced today.
Despite a 7.5% drop in
the constituency vote share
since 2011, Welsh Labour
secured 29 seats, two less
than the 31 required for a
majority.
Nigel Farage’s UKIP
gained a foothold in the
assembly, with seven
regional seats and a 12.5%
increase in the constituency
vote share since 2011,
despite opposing its
existence until 2013.
They are the first new
party to gain assembly
members since it was
formed in 1998.
The second largest party
has been hotly contested
with Plaid Cymru just beating
the Conservatives with
12 seats challenging the
Tories’ 11.
There was shock success
for the Plaid Cymru leader
Leanne Wood as she defeated
the Labour cabinet
member Leighton Andrews
to claim the Rhondda seat
with a swing of 24%.
The Liberal Democrats
have faced disappointment
as they retained just one of
the five seats they
previously held.
Of Wales’ 40 constituencies
Labour secured 27,
with the Conservatives and
Plaid Cymru each winning
six and the Liberal Democrats
holding on to one seat.
Unlike Westminster,
Wales’ constituencies are
grouped into five regions,
each with an additional
four elected assembly
members.
In a surprising regional
result, seven seats have
gone to UKIP, six to Plaid
Cymru, five to the Conservatives
and just two for
Labour.
In the absence of a
majority the Welsh Assembly
have 28 days to
nominate a First Minister.
Speculation has already
started as to whether
Labour will form a minority
government as in 2007
when Rhodri Morgan led
the party into power with
just 26 seats, later forming
a Coalition with Plaid
Cymru.
The party has already
rejected the prospect of
making a similair deal
with Plaid Cymru this
time.
New GLA member slams
Tories for ‘dangerous politics’
By SWL Reporters
DAVID DEAN
LABOUR’S new GLA member for
Merton and Wandsworth blasted
the Conservatives for their ‘dangerous
poilitics’ at the Olympia
vote count.
Leonie Cooper, who serves as
deputy leader of Wandsworth
Council, accosted Oonagh Moulton
(right), leader of the
Conservatives for Merton Council,
to criticise Zac Goldsmith’s
negative mayoral campaign.
The MP for Richmond Park has
been criticised for attempting to
link Sadiq Khan to Muslim
‘extremists’ by saying he had
shared platforms with people
who had extremist views.
Councillor Cooper said: “It has
been racist and dangerous
TURNOUT
politics. I was just appalled by
Zac’s campaign.
“I’m happy Zac lost because I
think his campaign’s approach
has been imported from America
really and I don’t want to see my
politics become that.
“He was a candidate that I
have always had respect for, I
thought he had green credentials
but his campaign has been
awful.”
She said she had to delete
many offensive posts from her
Facebook page directed at Mr
Khan and his Muslim
heritage.
The spat was a sour note on
what was otherwise a spectacular
day for the
councillor, who helped
Labour win the Merton
LEONIE COOPER
and Wandsworth GLA seat for the
first time in a tight election.
The Tooting resident secured
the win with 77,340 votes, followed
closely by Conservative
David Dean on 73,039.
Her victory brings an end to
16 years of Conservative control
of the seat, which was
first won by Elizabeth
Howlett in
2000.
Richard
Tracey had
held the seat
since 2008
but stepped
down and
retired earlier
this
year
after more than 25 years in
frontline politics.
Councillor Cooper said: “I feel
fantastic. It has been a long campaign
but we have finally won
and we are absolutely
delighted.”
The environmental campaigner
said her priority would be
tackling London’s worsening air
quality after what she described
as eight wasted years under
former mayor Boris Johnson.
She said: “We haven’t moved
forward on any of the environmental
issues.
“I’m an environmentalist and
that is my passion so I am really
hoping that we are going to be
able to move forward on the
environment after so many
wasted years.”
ESTHER DARKO
73,039 4% 77,340 5% 14,682 0.3%
Leonie Cooper (Labour Party), David Dean (Conservative Party), Esther Obiri-Darko (Green Party),
Adrian Hyyrylainen-Trett (Liberal Democrats) 10,732, Thamilini Kulendran (Independent) 1,142
187,455
2012 result: Conservative Party: 65,197 (43.1%), Labour Party: 55,216
(36.5%), Green Party: 11,307 (7.5%), Liberal Democrats: 11,904
(7.9%), The Socialist Party: 1,343 (0.9%), Others: 6,141 (4.1%)
THE ANGRY SMILE:
New GLA member
Leonie Cooper
Imposing rent controls on the
private sector and reversing
budget cuts to local police will
also be at the top of her to-do list
when she takes up her seat in
City Hall.
She has also pledged to work
with Mr Khan and Merton
Council to stop Crossrail 2
destroying Wimbledon town
centre.
Shadow Chancellor John
McDonnell, who was at the count
at Olympia, said Councillor
Cooper’s win was part of a spectacular
day for Labour in London.
He said: “Leonie is a great
example of someone who has
worked really hard in the community,
has got a great track
record of campaigning and has
never given up.”
FOR THE LATEST NEWS FROM THE LONDON ELECTION VISIT WWW.SWLONDONER.CO.UK

Saturday May 7th 2016
ELECTION SPECIAL
Victorious
Dismore
condemns
Barnet’s
voting error
By SWL Reporters
Onkar Sahota (centre) celebrates with Labour supporters
www.swlondoner.co.uk
9
ANDREW DISMORE has
criticised Barnet Council’s
voting‘cock-up’after he reclaimed
his seat in the
Barnet and Camden London
Assembly elections.
Mr Dismore was closely
fought by Conservative
DanielThomas after fears
Ken Livingstone’s anti-
Semitic comments would
negatively affect Labour’s
polling in the largely Jewish
north London area.
The elections were
marred by controversy after
a registration error saw
large numbers of voters in
Barnet turned away.
Mr Dismore said:“This
cock-up shows they are
simply not in control.”
The Labour candidate
held on despite the mistakes,
winning with 81,482
votes over Mr Thomas who
received 65,242 votes.
Barnet Council were
forced to apologise and
launch an investigation after
the error affected all the 155
polling stations in the city’s
most populous borough.
Britain’s Chief Rabbi
Ephraim Mirvis and his wife
were among those turned
away at the polling station.
Mr Dismore has previously
courted controversy after
the DailyTelegraph reported
that he had claimed
expenses equivalent to 487
journeys between
Parliament and his
constituency home despite
sitting 145 days.
The BBC revealed that he
also failed to declare annual
trips to Cyprus on a number
of Parliamentary Questions
and Early Day Motions
which were funded by the
Cypriot Parliament.
Previously Hendon MP,
Mr Dismore holds the 21st
century record for a House
of Commons filibuster,
talking for more than three
hours on a Criminal Law
Bill.
Mr Dismore won the
constituency for the first
time in 2012 with a +14.7%
increase to a 44.7% share
after Conservative’s Brian
Coleman won in 2000, 2004
and 2008.
Green candidate Stephen
Taylor finished in third with
16,996 votes ahead of Lib
Dem’s Zack Polanski in
fourth and UKIP’s Joseph
Langton who came fifth.
Barnet was one of the only
London boroughs to back
Conservative London Mayor
candidate and Richmond
Park MP Zac Goldsmith
over Sadiq Khan.
Labour re-elected in ‘divisive’
Ealing and Hillingdon vote
By SWL Reporters
LABOUR’S Onkar Sahota won the
Ealing and Hillingdon GLA seat
with 86,088 votes – pushing milkman-turned-Tory-councillor
Dominic Gilham into second.
In his victory speech Dr Sahota
thanked supporters and he is
now expected to deliver on his
health focussed election platform,
promising to fight hospital
closures and health inequality.
He ended his speech though
by slamming the London
campaign
He said:“This campaign has
been very nasty,personal and
divisive,and has happened on
my patch also.”
LABOUR’S Navin Shah is looking
forward to working with Sadiq Khan
after winning the Brent and Harrow
London Assembly elections with
more than 79,000 votes.
Mr Shah re-claimed his seat
beating Conservative candidate Joel
Davidson with a 20,000 majority
although the Conservatives did
increase their 2012 share by 50%.
Mr Shah promised that, combined
with Mr Khan’s election, these
results represented a tremendous
moment for Londoners.
Mr Shah said:“To all the pundits
who predicted a complete wipe-out
for Labour, I am pleased it hasn’t
happened.I knew it wasn’t going to.
He also set out his secondterm
priorities,saying:“Sadiq
Khan and I fought the election to
unite and progress the issues that
effect Londoners:housing,
transport,being pro-business
and also looking after our NHS.”
Mr Sohata called for political
reconcilliation across the capital.
“Now is the time to heal
London,”he said.Before shaking
hands with the defeated
Conservative Councillor Gilham
– who picked up 70,155 votes.
UKIP candidate Alex Nieora
followed in a distant third,almost
tying with Green Party candidate
Meena Hans in fourth.
Lib Dem Francesco Rossano
Fruzza came a disappointing last.
SHAH WINS BRENT
“I think gradually everything is
coming into shape, we have a situation
now where the London Mayoral
elections will give a big, strong message
that Labour means business.”
Architect Mr Shah increased his
2008 majority by 11.3% in 2012.
In the full 2016 election results, the
youngest candidate, Lib Dem Anton
Georgiou, tweeted:“So pleased to
have placed third in Brent and
Harrow with 11,534.I’m so grateful to
all who supported me.”
Mr Georgiou came ahead of
UKIP’s Rathy Alagaratnam, Green’s
Jafar Hassan and Respect’s Akib
Mahmood who finished fourth, fifth
and sixth respectively in the Brent.
Ealing Council confirmed an
increased turnout compared with
the 2012 election.
The overall provisional voter
turnout was 47% in Ealing and
44% in Hillingdon.
Mr Gilham said the turnout
was a good result for the people
of the Assembly constituency.
He has also vowed to continue
to oppose a third runway,calling
for a better Heathrow Airport
rather than a bigger one.
Dr Sahota was born in India
and moved to Hillingdon in 1961,
working as a west London GP
since 1989.
In March Dr Sahota’s medical
practice dragged him into a dispute
with parents at St Mark’s
Primary School,Hanwell.He
refused an offer from Ealing
Council to purchase land he
owns next to the school to allow it
to expand its number of pupils.
Dr Sahota declined,claiming
that the council failed to offer a
fair market price for the land he
bought in 2006 for £730,000 to
open a new surgery.
His refusal to sell the land led
to anger and accusations of
profiteering from parents.
A petition set up said:“The site
is effectively land-banked awaiting
accrual of maximum profit
associated with its proximity to
Hanwell’s Crossrail station.”
However the dispute did not
stop Dr Sahota holding off a
Conservative attempt to retake
Ealing and Hillingdon.
Former Deputy Mayor Richard
Barnes lost the Ealing and
Hillingdon constituency by 2% in
2012’s Assembly vote.
Two years later he defected to
UKIP,leavingWest Drayton’s
Councillor Gilham as
Conservative Party candidate.
Mr Gilham vowed to fight
Heathrow’s third runway and
provide more affordable homes.
But the milkman’s platform
failed to deliver enough voters to
take him to City Hall,losing by
nearly 16,000 votes.
Ealing and Hillingdon also
backed Mr Khan for Mayor.
CORBYN POPS IN
LABOUR leader Jeremy Corbyn
Barrister Joanne McCartney also
dropped into the Alexandra Palace secured a comfortable re-election in
count to congratulate his dear friend Enfield and Haringey over herTory
Jeannette Arnold.
rival Linda Kelly.
Cheers rang out as Ms Arnold, the Ms McCartney won 91,000 votes
popular incumbent for the North East against Ms Kelly’s 39,092.
constituency, stormed to a strong She attacked the negativity of the
victory with 134,307 votes.
Conservative campaign before
She claimed 100,000 votes more praising her supporters.
than Conservative rival Sam Malik. “I am very grateful that the voters
After thanking her supporters, Ms of Enfield and Haringey have rejected
Arnold’s victory speech hinted at her this divisive campaign.”
priorities for the next four years.
The Greens made a strong showing
taking third place in both north
She said:“We were standing up for
Londoners so that they could have the London constituencies.
houses they deserve, so that they North East Green candidate Samir
could have the police and fire
Jeraj remains optimistic.He tweeted:
services that they deserve.”
“Nearly beat theTories.Next time!”

Saturday, May 7th 2016
www.swlondoner.co.uk
ELECTION SPECIAL
Brake upbeat about Lib Dem recovery
UPBEAT: Tom Brake and Lib Dem mayoral candidate
Caroline Pidgeon. He’s upbeat about his party’s future
By Stuart Ballard
CARSHALTON and Wallington
Liberal Democrat MP
Tom Brake has said the ‘support
machine is off’ as his
party looks to make steps
towards recovery.
But he insisted there won’t
be any champagne popping
in party offices just yet
The party have been
losing council seats ever
since the failure of the coalition
with the Conservatives
and have slipped behind
UKIP in the English elections.
They have seen a small
rise this time around and Mr
Brake is confident they will
recover in time for the next
local elections - despite Caroline
Pidgeon finishing
fourth in the mayor’s race
behind the Green Party.
“It may still take time,
anyone in the Lib Dem coalition.
It’s still fresh in people’s
minds and did us some
damage,”he said.
“This time around we may
be making a few gains. The
support machine is off.
“Twelve months ago it was
the worst result since the
party was formed.
“We’re not going to be
cracking open any bottles of
champagne but I do think
this is a good sign for Tim
Farron and our party.”
One-time Richmond Park
MP Lady Kramer, a former
Liberal Democrat candidate
for mayor,added her voice to
Brake’s comments and called
for London to ‘come together’
after a divisive campaign.
“We were decimated at
the last election and we’ve
still got to recover from that,”
she said.
“It was very hard to come
through the noise caused by
the very hostile battle that
Sadiq and Zac were waging.
“I hope Sadiq will now
look seriously at Caroline’s
housing plan.There is a solution
on offer for him that is
costed and credible.
“When Ken Livingstone
was mayor,he claimed to be a
magpie for good ideas and I
hope Sadiq will follow him.
“I hope there is an opportunity
now for London to
come together after what has
been quite an unpleasant
election campaign but I’m
pleased there is a decisive
choice of mayor.”
10
Labour’s
Dismore
says Ken
should get
straight red
By SWL reporters
CONTROVERSIAL: Former
mayor Ken Livingstone
London likes its Greens
as Lib Dems finish fourth
By Anna MacSwan
THE Greens claim to have shaken
off their ‘protest vote’ image and
consolidated their position as the
capital’s third political party, finishing
behind Labour and
Conservative in both the London
Mayor and Assembly contest.
Sian Berry, the Green Party’s
Mayoral candidate,received 5.8%
of first preference votes — a small
increase on the 4.48% Jenny Jones
received in 2012.
Ms Berry and fellow candidate
Caroline Russell will now replace
Jenny Jones and Darren Johnson
on the London Wide Assembly
where the party have retained
their two seats.
Ms Berry said: “We’re 100%
the third party in London now.
“We’ve got a good reputation,
people believe in our policies and
we ran a positive campaign which
I’m really proud of.
“No regrets,I’ve enjoyed every
minute of it and I’m really pleased
with the result.”
Ms Berry said she would be
getting straight back to work on
Monday to oppose plans for estate
demolitions and road building in
the capital that are likely go ahead
with the election of Labour’s Sadiq
Khan as Mayor.
The Green Party made gains
despite the Conservative Party’s
Zac Goldsmith widely being seen
as having strong environmental
credentials.
He vehemently opposed the
Heathrow Airport expansion but
lost credibility when he failed to
deliver on his threat to step down if
plans for the third runway weren’t
dropped.
His campaign was also criticised
for its negative spin
targetting Mr Khan’s hertitage.
Ms Berry said:“London voters
don’t want those kind of policies
and I think they reacted really well
in rejecting the negative campaign
that the Conservatives ran.
“I’m really proud of London.”
Darren Johnson, outgoing
Green party London Assembly
member, said this year’s London
election was a reflection of how far
the Green appeal has broadened
to attract new voters.
"There was a time when people
said ‘oh the Greens have got a
protest vote on the back of the Iraq
war and tube privatisation or
whatever,”he said.
HAPPY: Green Party
mayoral candidate Sian
Berry secured third
place - nudging the
Liberal Democrats into
fourth place
“No one is saying that this time.
People are clearly accepting,
whether they like it or not,that the
Greens are a very established
part of the political scene that
they’re here to stay and here to
make a real difference."
He also said Ms Berry’s
performance in the Mayoral
election was ‘the start of Sian
Berry making an impact in
London rather than the culmination
of it’.
The Green Party also performed
well in Scotland, where it
now has six MSPs and overtook
the Liberal Democrats to become
Holyrood’s fourth largest party.
ANDREW Dismore has
slammed Ken Livingstone
for having a negative affect
on his campaign despite
holding Labour’s seat in
Barnet and Camden.
Dismore was run closely
by Conservative Daniel
Thomas after fears Livingstone’s
anti-Semitic
comments would cost
Labour their seat in the
largely Jewish area.
Despite the scandal, Dismore
held on in the Barnet
and Camden London
Assembly elections winning
with 81,482 votes over
Thomas who received
65,242 votes.
But Dismore said:“I
think Ken Livingstone’s
time is up in the Labour
Party, he has been a completely
negative force in the
election and no doubt my
majority would have been
better had he not been
around.
“On the other hand, I’m
so pleased that so many
Jewish voters have clearly
stood by me as I’ve stood by
them in the past and will in
the future.”
However, Livingstone -
who served two terms as
London mayor before
losing to Boris Johnson
eight years ago - refused to
accept any blame for
Labour losing votes.
And he blamed‘far right’
Labour MPs for stoking the
row in a bid to oust leader
Jeremy Corbyn.
He said:“There’s been a
very well-orchestrated
campaign by the Israel
lobby to smear anybody
who criticises Israeli policy
as anti-Semitic.I had to put
up with 35 years of this..."
And he went on to say:
“Let’s remember when
Hitler won his election in
1932, his policy then was
that Jews should be moved
to Israel.”