Labour has taken bellwether Battersea from the Conservatives, with challenger Marsha de Cordova ousting incumbent Jane Ellison, making it the first seat to change hands in the capital.
Labour previously held the constituency from 1997-2010 before Ms Ellison took the seat in 2010. Registered blind, Ms de Cordova is councillor for Larkhall ward and has previously said her decision to run for parliament came from her experiences as a disabled woman.
Ms de Cordova opposed Brexit and has vowed to “fight against a Tory ‘Hard Brexit’”.
In her victory speech she said: “As a visually impaired woman, I feel passionately about the rights of disabled people. Accessibility in our public places and our public transport still falls short of what is reasonable.
“I will lose my time in parliament to lobby for improvements in these areas. In the 5th richest country in the world there can be no excuses for leaving behind a large number of our citizens.
“Labour is the party for social justice in the UK. Our public services have been under attack by the Tory government that cares little about the many and has proven that they only look after the few. They have tried to privatise our NHS via the back door and only Labour will stop this and undo those horrific measures.”
Locally, she has promised to “work to get more homes and better rent levels in our area and fight the cuts to our schools.”
She said: “In Battersea, we have seen a huge amount of new housing but hardly any of these developments have been affordable and hardly any have been social or council housing. Developers have been able to advertise to foreign investors and profits have been placed before the needs of our community.I will work with the may SQ to tackle this practice.”
Balham resident and financial secretary to the treasury Jane Ellison won the seat for the Conservatives in 2010, holding it with a majority of 7,938, or 15.6%, in 2015.
The defeated Tory said: “I’ll leave other people to analyse the situation, if people thought I was a great MP they should vote for me – that’s the simplest message on these occasions isn’t it.
“There are a lot of issues and certainly Brexit was the dominant subject of conversation on the doorsteps.
“I know many people felt themselves quite torn between wishing to vote for a different outcome last year and wishing to support me personally and we’ve seen how those tensions were resolved in the result.
“Nevertheless it has been a privilege and I hope to continue to serve the public in some form.”
Marsha De Cordova (Labour) 25,292, Jane Ellison (Conservative) 22,876, Richard Davis (Liberal Democrat) 4,401, Lois Davis (Green) 866,Eugene Power (UKIP) 357, Daniel Lambert (Socialist Party GB) 32 Chris Coghlan(Independent) 1,234
Labour win, majority 2,416 (+6,500)
Turnout: 71.0%
