Labour Gains Merton & Wandsworth Assembly Seat

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Leonie Cooper overturns the 2012 Tory majority

The new London Assembly member for the Merton & Wandsworth constituency is Labour's Leonie Cooper.

She beat the Conservative candidate, David Dean, by 4,301 votes when the results were declared on Friday afternoon (May 6).

The seat was previously held by Conservative Richard Tracey, who announced his retirement prior to the election.

The full results were:

Leonie Cooper (Labour): 77,340
David Dean (Conservative): 73,049
Esther Obiri-Darko (Green) 14,682
Adrian Hyyrlainen-Trett (Lib-Dem): 10,732
Thamilini Kulendran (Ind): 1,142.

At the 2012 election, Richard Tracey held the seat with 43.1% of the vote, against Leonie Cooper's 36.5%.

This time she received 41.7% of the vote, against 39.4% achieved by David Dean, who is a Merton Borough Councillor for Wimbledon's Dundonald ward.

Tony Arbour retained his assembly seat in the South West constituency, which covers Richmond, Kingston and Hounslow. Merton Labour Councillor Martin Whelton initially seemed to be launching a strong challenge with the count showing him ahead early on, but in the event the Conservative incumbent won with a comfortable majority.

The full results were:

Conservative	Tony Arbour	84,381
Labour	Martin Whelton	62,937
Liberal Democrat	Rosina Robson	30,654
UKIP	Alan Craig	14,983
Green	Andree Frieze	19,745
Socialist (GB)	Adam Buick	1,065

And the new Mayor of London is Labour's Sadiq Khan. He beat Tory Zac Goldsmith by 1,310,143 votes to 994,614.

Meanwhile, a Merton Borough Council by-election in Figge's Marsh was won by former council leader Mike Brunt for Labour.

A by-election was called in Figge’s Marsh ward at the end of March following the resignation of former councillor, Peter Walker.

Labour's Mike Brunt was Dundonald ward councillor from 1990-2002 and leader of the council from 1997-1999.

The breakdown of votes were as follows:

•Labour Party: Mike Brunt: (2,824 votes)
•Conservative Party: Hamna Qureshi: (443 votes)
•UK Independence Party (UKIP): Andrew Thomas Mills:(254 votes)
•Green Party: Penelope Jane Homer: (184 votes)
•Liberal Democrats: Rachel Ann Waitt: (136 votes).

Turnout was 47% and Mike Brunt received 74% of the vote.

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May 6, 2016