Conservative James Cleverly

Conservative James Cleverly holds onto Bexley and Bromley London Assembly seat

Robin Cottle, Reporter Friday, May 4, 2012
4:05 PM

James Cleverly held onto his Bexley and Bromley London Assembly seat today despite his Labour opponent Josie Channer making inroads to his majority.

The Conservative incumbent gained 52.6 per cent of the vote in the traditional Tory stronghold, the same as he did in 2008.

But Miss Channer gained a lot of votes from the Liberal Democrats to reflect a bad day across London for the traditional third party.

She picked up 24.2 per cent of the vote, almost 10 per cent more than her predecessor Alex Heslop did four years ago with 14.5 per cent.

Mr Cleverly said: “I’m incredibly pleased and want to thank the people of Bexley and Bromley.

“I genuinely love this job and feel I have a great association with the local people.

“My biggest challenge will be maintaining the great level of service we’ve been providing in my first term.”

His Labour opponent was as pleased with her performance despite the defeat as her party tries yo build a more solid base in the two suburban borough.

Miss Channer said: “This is a singal to the coalition that the people of Bexley and Bromley aren’t happy with the work the coalition are doing nationally.

“They need to consider their position because their support is collapsing across London.

“I hope James Cleverly doesn’t take the people of the two boroughs for granted anymore and he will listen to people’s concerns rather than being on the side of the coalition.”

Lib Dem candidate Same Webber clung on to third with 6.7% of the vote, ahead of David Coburn for UKIP, the Green Party’s Jonathan Rooks and the BNP’s Donna Treanor.

Mr Webber said: “I’d like to thanks my campaigning team for the work they’ve put in. I really don’t think we could have done anymore.”