It’s girl power in Wandsworth as Rosena Allin-Khan was crowned Tooting MP replacing Sadiq Khan in the by-election in the early hours of this morning.
It was a landslide victory for the Labour candidate who received 17,894 votes compared to Conservative Dan Watkins’ 11,537, increasing the Labour majority from 2,842 to 6,357.
The news means that Wandsworth is now represented entirely by female MPs.
The Green party came third again with a mere 830 votes for Esther Obiri-Darko, closely followed by Lib Dem Alex Glassbrook with 820.
In fifth, UKIP’s Elizabeth Jones won 507 votes.
The by-election turnout was 42.5%, with 31,763 votes cast out of 74,701 eligible voters.
Dr Allin-Khan decided not to give a victory speech but instead paid tribute to Labour MP Jo Cox who was tragically shot yesterday.
The former St George’s doctor said: “Given the horrific events of today and the shocking death of Jo Cox, I do not intend to make a speech.
“Instead, I would like to make a short statement.
“First of all, I would like to give my profound thanks to the people of Tooting for electing me as their MP.
“But my thoughts and prayers are with Jo’s husband and her children. She was a proud and passionate campaigner who will be desperately missed.
“Jo’s death reminds us that our democracy is precious but fragile – we must never forget to cherish it. Thousands of people voted today and we are all here in recognition of our democratic values.
“I would like to thank the police for all the hard work they have done today, not just here but across the country.
“I would like to thank the returning officer and staff for their efficient and smooth running of this by-election, and I would also like to thank my agent and his campaign staff.
“I would like to thank the other candidates for the respectful way in which this by-election has been fought.
“And lastly, I would like to thank my family and friends for their love and support.
“Thank you very much.”
Earlier a two-minute silence was also held to honour of the West Yorkshire MP and the flag over Wandsworth Town Hall was flying at half-mast.
Previous London mayoral candidate Ankit Love of the One Love Party came in tenth with just 32 votes behind Des Coke of the Christian People’s Party, Holwing Laud Hope representing The Official Monster Raving Loony Party, Graham More of the English Democrats Love England – Leave EU! party and Dr Akbar Ali Malik of the Immigrants Political Party, with 164, 54, 50 and 44 respectively.
At the bottom, independent Smiley Smillie received five votes, Give Me Back Elmo’s Bobby Smith got nine and independents Zia Samadani and Zirwa Javaid got 23 and 30 votes.
The other female MPs representing Wandsworth are Jane Ellison (Conservatives, Battersea) and Justine Greening (Conservatives, Putney).
Image courtesy of Rosena Allin-Khan, with thanks
