Marsha De Cordova hailed Labour’s three strong women as they comfortably held on to the seats in Wandsworth.
Battersea was the first London constituency to be announced with De Cordova taking the win with 22,983 votes, a 48.8% vote share.
This was soon followed by victory for Fleur Anderson in Putney, who received more than twice the number of votes as her Conservative opponent, Lee Roberts.
The hat-trick was completed by Rosena Allin-Khan, who won with an ever bigger vote share of 55.2% in Tooting.
Referring to Anderson and Allin-Khan, De Cordova said: “What’s wonderful is not only are we colleagues, we’re actually friends and it’s wonderful to have three strong women representing our borough in parliament.”
Anderson’s victory speech was interrupted by booing, as a group of hecklers criticised her for failing to turn up to a previous husting.
Persisting through the intrusion, Anderson said: “I just cannot wait to get going and be part of the Labour government to achieve the change everyone wants to see.”
In her victory speech, Allin-Khan joked about the recent ‘gamble gate’ scandal, in which the Conservative party withdrew support for two candidates after they allegedly placed bets on the date of the general election.
She said: “Those around the Prime Minister will be very disappointed to know that all bets are off!
“Today, all three seats are solid Labour and we’ve got power once again.”
Paying tribute to her ‘Wandsworth sisters’, the former doctor added that she could not imagine a better team to represent their communities within parliament.
She condemned the Conservative leadership over the last decade, citing its stance on homelessness and minority groups ‘like myself’.
Turning to Labour’s success nationwide, she concluded: “We turned the page of a legacy of unfairness and cruelness – we are writing a new chapter for our communities, our constituencies, and for our country.”
Impassioned speech from @DrRosena ‘Today all three seats are Labour’ @PutneyFleur @MarshadeCordova pic.twitter.com/gqVqGOhzmF
— Madeline Sherratt (@maddysherratt) July 5, 2024
The Green party also saw significant gains in Wandsworth, with Putney candidate Fergal Joseph McEntee taking 3,182 votes, Battersea candidate Joe Taylor taking 4,239, and Tooting candidate Nick Humberstone taking 5,672.
Voter turnout was just below 70% across the borough, down from over 75% at the previous general election.
Prior to the final declarations, candidates across the three constituencies shared their sentiments.
Conservative candidate for Battersea, Tom Pridham, said: “It is obviously a very bad night for the Conservative Party, though I am optimistic about a path back in the years ahead.”
Barry Edwards, Reform’s candidate for Battersea, shared his elation at the initial exit poll prediction that his party was on track for 13 seats at the start of the night.
He also criticised Labour’s concept of “internationalism,” and said: “Everyone should look that term up for themselves because it means that the British way of life is going to change and that change I don’t believe is for the better.”
Meanwhile, Kieren McCarthy, the Liberal Democrats’ candidate for Putney, said he did not consider Reform a true competitor.
He said: “People are obviously swinging to Labour because they are tired of the Conservative government and I think we all understand why.”
“I think they’ve gone to Reform because they want a Conservative vote but they don’t like the Conservative government.”
Another notable figure who attended the count, as a Labour counting officer, was former speaker of the House of Commons John Bercow.
Photo or it didn’t happen pic.twitter.com/OXMlwX7aVr
— Madeline Sherratt (@maddysherratt) July 5, 2024
Describing the former Conservative government, he said: “They are the most corrupt, incompetent, and mean-spirited set of ministers that I have witnessed in my lifetime.”
Putney, Battersea and Tooting are supported by a Labour Council, a Labour mayor and now a Labour government.
Featured image taken by Madeline Sherrat
