By Kate Pounds
October 25 2019, 20.25
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In 2017’s snap election south west London hosted some of the most nail-biting marginal seats.
On Monday morning Prime Minister Boris Johnson will ask the House of Commons to vote to hold a General Election on December 12th 2019.
Although this is the third request of its kind, and he requires a two-thirds majority to pass this vote, he has also stated that agreeing to the proposed general election is a prerequisite to further discussion of his EU withdrawal deal. Here are the top five marginal seats in south west London.
Kensington
The most marginal seat in south west London and in England. After a highly contested 24-hour count, Emma Dent Coad gained the seat for Labour, edging in ahead of the previous MP, Conservative Victoria Borwick with just 20 more votes.
If this doesn’t look like a strong majority, it certainly represents a strong swing, as Borwick’s majority had been 7,000 in 2015.
Richmond Park
Zac Goldsmith’s 45 vote margin to regain his seat from Liberal Democrat Sarah Olny puts this constituency in close second place. Although Olny had only been in post for 6 months, following a by-election, her vote gain of 25.6% compared to the 2015 election against Goldsmith’s 13.1% loss tops the percentage change charts.
With both candidates reselected to run again, this is certainly a count to stay alert to.
Carshalton and Wallington
Here 1,369 votes separated the front runner Liberal Democrat Tom Brake and his opponent Conservative Matthew Maxwell-Scott. Brake has held this seat for 22 years.
He has also held numerous positions including Liberal Democrat Shadow Leader of the House, Chief Whip, and has been the party spokesperson for Foreign Affairs, International Trade and Exiting the European Union. He’s well placed to fight an interesting Brexit election.
Putney
Justine Greening’s majority in 2017 was just 1,554. If that isn’t close enough to keep you glued, Greening has announced she isn’t running next time around, so there’ll be a new candidate to become acquainted with.
Battersea
Finally Marsha De Cordova’s majority of 2,416 may put her in fifth place for most marginal seat in south west London, but represents a significant gain against Conservative Jane Ellison, who had held the seat since 2010. Compared to the election results of 2015, De Cordova’s result represents a 9.1% gain for labour compared to the Conservative loss of 10.8%.
