By Dan Brookes
December 13 2019, 09.00
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Jane Keep booked to get her hair done for the day after the election when she realised she had her first day off in months.
The Conservative candidate in Feltham and Heston saw a cut made overnight too, as Labour’s Seema Malhotra saw her margin reduced to just 7,000 – down from almost 17,000 in 2017.
Dr Keep’s social media pages have been decorated with images of her out in public appealing for votes and she insisted that despite the end result she would look back fondly on the campaign trial.
“I’m fantastically proud,” she said.
“I absolutely loved the campaign and getting to know Feltham and Heston.
“Talking to residents has been a really amazing experience.
“It has really heartened me that so many invited me to go and see them.
“They wrote to me, they phoned me, and I’ve went and met every single one of them.
“I really enjoyed listening to them and I will still actually stay in touch with some of them because they’ve become part of the community for me.
“I’ve been cranking up the miles on the campaign trail – I’ve been through a few pairs of shoes.
“It’s been very wet and very cold and I’ve spent a lot of time in Asda buying snacks and using their public toilets so it has been interesting.
“I’m most definitely grateful for a little bit of a break over Christmas.
“I’ve got the day off tomorrow and I’m so excited.”
Dr Keep, 58, received 35.6% of the votes in the constituency: an increase of almost 4% from her predecessor Samir Jassal’s share in the previous election.
She expressed her delight at the resounding performance of her party in the General Election and as an organisational development business partner for the NHS, already has her eyes set on the GLA elections in May 2020.
She said: “It’s been an absolutely stonking night for the Conservatives and I’m super, super proud.
“As soon as Christmas is over we’ll be back and the team is going to be even more ready for those GLA elections.”
