As the last constituency in central London to be counted, at 6am Chelsea and Fulham swung Labour for the first time in its history.
Since its inception in 2010, Chelsea and Fulham has been dominated by the Conservatives, and Greg Hands was the MP for the constituency from 2010 onwards.
In a very close call, the previously long-standing Conservative seat has turned the tide, and Chelsea and Fulham swung to Labour, with MP Ben Coleman now serving the constituency.
On his victory, Coleman said: “The fact that we now have a Labour member of parliament here in Chelsea and Fulham is symbolic of the desire we’ve seen across the country for change.”
He arrived only moments before the declaration and prior to the official announcement, members of the Labour Party began loudly cheering and clapping at the doorway.
Coleman also said he was excited to provide the change this Labour government has promised to enact.
With voter turnout at 60.3%, the result was delayed from its predicted time at 3am due to a partial recount, as just 152 votes gave Labour the victory, as Coleman had 18,556 votes and Hands had 18,404.
Blaise Baquiche of the Lib Dems garnered 3,611 votes, Mona Crocker of the Green Party 2,798, Anthony Goodwin for Reform 3,144, Sabi Patwary for the Worker’s Party 538, and David Coulden for the Heritage Party 65.
Baquiche said regardless of the results, in the face of the Labour supermajority, he wanted to see people stand up for the voices of other parties.
He said: “Who’s going to stand up for the voice of other parties? That’s not so good for democracy.
“We would like to see more of a Lib Dem presence, and the Lib Dems really care about local issues.”
In their jubilant celebrations of Coleman, the Labour Party supporters and team members even sang him Happy Birthday.
Looking sombre, Hands left soon after the declaration and was unavailable for comment.
The Green Party’s Crocker said: “I’m upset and sad that really we haven’t had more of a momentum like Reform, but if the press give us the same platform that they give Reform, we may have translated that into more seats.”
She added: “In fours years time I’ll be back, and I told Ben, I’ll be challenging his seat!”
In a Labour landslide election where the majority of London is now Labour, the last Conservative seat in central London was demolished, making history yet again.
