Conservative candidate Gareth Bacon has said he is ‘delighted’ with his win in the Bexley and Bromley London Assembly elections today.
Mr Bacon secured his seat with a huge proportion of the vote, sitting comfortably ahead of rival Labour candidate Sam Russell from the start.
The Bexley Councillor was first elected to the GLA in 2008 and has managed to maintain his seat ever since.
“The voters have turned out for me and they have turned out for Zac,” Mr Bacon said at the ExCel today in London.
“I’m looking forward to working with the group after the election.”
Mr Bacon is currently the Mayor’s appointed Chairman of the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority, overseeing the London Fire Brigade.
He has been a Councillor of Bexley since 1988, previously serving as Deputy Leader of the Council, Cabinet Member for Finance & Corporate Services, and as Cabinet Member for Environment & Public Realm.
“There’s some interesting results pending I think in London, we’ve got Croydon neck and neck and Havering and Redbridge as well,” he said.
“It’s going to be a long day.”
The win was secured easily over other candidates, with Labour coming in second and Frank Thomas coming in third for UKIP.
Roisin Robertson secured fourth place for the Green Party whilst Julie Ireland of the Lib Dems and Veronica Olabisi for the All People’s Party brought up the rear.
Despite his win, Mr Bacon stressed that he saw it as ‘more important’ to get the vote out for Conservative mayoral candidate, Zac Goldsmith.
“The way City Hall works, the power is in the hands of the mayor and it is absolutely crucial that you get your candidate elected,” he said.
“My efforts were all about that. Really my election is secondary.”
Zac Goldsmith is currently trailing behind Labour’s Sadiq Khan in second place as votes continue to be counted from the mayoral election yesterday.
