Conservative candidate Robert Flint suffered a huge defeat at the Lambeth and Southwark GLA elections today receiving only 34,703 votes to winner Labour’s Florence Eshalomi’s 96,946.
However, Mr Flint remains positive about the loss, saying he is proud to get the most votes a Conservative has ever got in Lambeth and Southwark.
The defeat by Labour is perhaps nothing new with previous seat holder Valerie Shawcross winning 52.8% of the vote in the last election.
Mr Flint said: “I don’t think it was an unfortunate result. I’m very proud. Very proud of the team that I’ve been working with as well. I wouldn’t have been able to do it without them.
“I have a full time job and I need all the help I can get and we did a very good job.”
He compared his defeat to Labour’s embarrassing slide to third place party in Scotland, saying it shows there is no such thing as a safe seat.
Tonight he is looking forward to getting some well-deserved sleep but will soon be back to work as a lawyer attempting to fix the housing crisis.
He said: “The strange thing about the London election is that 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.
“Labour have a lot of ideas to bring to the table but I really worry they’ll use their 50% of the count to put development costs up and if that happens it will be a great shame.
“In practise I don’t think it will happen because they can’t do it.”
He has been a Londoner since 2007, working as a lawyer in the housing sector, giving him a detailed understanding of the London housing market.
From 2008 to 2011 he completed his law training at night school whilst working as a researcher in Parliament.
Earlier in the day he tweeted: “In the Excel Centre for the first time since @BPPLawSchool exams. This feels more like watching someone mark your homework though#BackZac2016.”
A Former special police constable, for the last five years he has volunteered in the Southwark Citizens Advice Bureau rent arrears clinic, seeing first-hand how rising rents, complicated benefits and debt affect people who have fallen on hard times.
Candidates Idham Ramadi for the UK Independence Party came in Fifth with 6591 votes while the Socialist Party’s Kevin Parkin was sixth with just 1333. Amadu Kanumansa of the All People’s Party trailed behind with 906 votes, placing him last.
