Liberal Democrat candidate George Turner expressed his disappointment with the Vauxhall vote, but was delighted with the party’s improved performance across south west London.
In the 2015 General Election, the Liberal Democrats lost all but one of their seats in London, including that of high-profile then Business Secretary, Vince Cable.
Tom Brake was then the only party member to hold his seat in the constituency of Carshalton and Wallington.
Mr Turner said: “It’s a bad result for us here in Vauxhall but a good result for south west London. We have seen in south west London great gains.
“Vince Cable is going to be a voice of reason in Parliament at a very difficult time. I am extremely pleased.”
Mr Cable was victorious in his constituency of Twickenham, obtaining 52.8% of the vote.
There were also further victories for the Liberal Democrats in the constituencies of Kingston and Surbiton with Ed Davey and Tom Brake held his seat in Carshalton and Wallington.
Mr Turner was widely tipped to challenge Labour’s long-standing MP for Vauxhall, Kate Hoey after her support for the ‘Leave’ vote in the 2016 EU Referendum.
However, Mr Turner received just 11,326 votes to Kate Hoey’s 31,522.
But he has not been put off by his loss, and vowed to return next time around.
“Yeah – it has been a great campaign,” he said. “I have really enjoyed it. There have been hundreds of new members who have campaigned with us. So I will definitely do this again.”
He did express his sympathy for former Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg, who was defeated in Sheffield Hallam by Labour’s Jared O’Mara by over 2,000 votes.
“It’s really tragic for Nick because he has been the voice of reason for so many years. He has been statesman like and powerful in his own,” he said.
“He is one of the only people who can articulate the pro-European cause and he will be a great loss to Parliament.”
