Kensington’s Green Party candidate Robina Rose has lashed out following the Conservatives’ return to power, condemning the election as ‘depressing’.
With 1,765 votes and a 5.1% share, Ms Rose finished fourth behind the Liberal Democrats’ Robin McGhee and one ahead of UKIP’s Jack Bovill.
Despite a reasonable result in a borough more typically associated with affluence than the Green’s anti super-basement rhetoric, Ms Rose voiced her grievances with the democratic process.
“It’s very disappointing,” she told South West Londoner. “The whole election is very depressing. People have voted for what they didn’t want rather than for what they did want.
“In Kensington they voted not to have the mansion tax. I understand it, but it’s a negative vote not a positive vote.
“I think in this world we need more of a sense of future.”
Cannabis is Safer than Alcohol candidate Tony Auguste put a more positive spin on the evening, suggesting his party had triumphed as the biggest small party.
After Victoria Borwick’s victory speech, UKIP’s Jack Bovill took to the stage, only to be rudely interrupted by the worn-out, rag tag collective of party members who ushered him off the stage with applause.
Defeat seemed to be felt most strongly by Labour’s Rod Abouharb.
Dr Abouharb mounted an attack on the Tory fortress by shining a light on the extremes of the borough’s housing market.
A study conducted by Kensington Labour prior to the election found 5,838 homes in Kensington & Chelsea owned by companies registered in offshore secrecy jurisdictions or tax haven.
The paper continued to note that the average home in Kensington and Chelsea costs £1.2m. To afford a mortgage on an ‘average’ home requires an income of £250,000 a year.
Dr Abouharb said: “The housing situation in Kensington is frankly shocking, evidence of the extremes of wealth and poverty that in a civilised society today we should never tolerate.”
Although his approach appeared astute in an increasingly divided area, it proved ineffective at the count.
Dr. Abouharb, who earlier in the night expressed optimism about winning the seat, was the only candidate to make no concession speech.
