Diane Abbott increased her majority in Hackney North and Stoke Newington last night by 11,000 in a landslide victory – with her nearest rival 35,000 votes behind her.
Abbott, who had come under sustained criticism for her performance in the election campaign, won 75 per cent of the vote, with 42,265 votes. She had stepped down from her shadow cabinet role just the day before (June 7) citing ill health.
Abbott said at the count: “The Conservative Party fought a campaign characterised by the politics of personal destruction.
“And yet the British people have seen past that and in Hackney they have responded to Labour’s positive campaign that addresses the issues whether it be the NHS, the housing crisis or the benefit cuts.
“We have fought a positive campaign and we have been vindicated.”
Abbott won 31,357 votes in 2015, a 62.9 per cent vote share.
Meg Hiller, MP for Hackney South and Shoreditch, held her seat with a huge uptick in votes– seeing her majority soar from 64.4 per cent in 2015 to 79.4 per cent, garnering 42,974 votes last night.
She told supporters gathered at the Britannia Leisure Centre in Hackney: “This campaign has clearly shown that the people of Hackney and Britain have had enough of austerity.”
RESULTS
HACKNEY NORTH AND STOKE NEWINGTON
Diane Abbott – Labour – 42,265 votes/ 71.1 per cent
Amy Gray – Conservative – 7,126 votes/ 12.7 per cent
Joe Richards – Liberal Democrat – 3,817 votes/ 6.8 per cent
Alastair Binnie-Lubbock – Green Party – 2,606 votes/ 4.6 per cent
Jonathan Homan – Animal Welfare Party – 222 votes/ 0.4 per cent
Abraham Spielmann – Independent – 203 votes/ 0.4 per cent
Coraline Corlis-Khan – Friends Party – 59 votes/ 0.1 per cent
HACKNEY SOUTH AND SHOREDITCH
Meg Hiller – Labour – 43,974 votes/ 79.4 per cent
Luke Parker – Conservative – 6,043 votes/ 10.9 per cent
Liberal Democrat
Dave Raval – Liberal Democrats – 3,168 votes/ 5.7 per cent
Rebecca Johnson – Green Party – 1,522 votes /2.7 per cent
Vanessa Hudson – Animal Welfare Party – 226 votes/ 0.4 per cent
Independent
Russell Higgs – Independent – 143 votes/ 0.3 per cent
Angel Watt – Christian Peoples Alliance – 113 votes/ 0.2 per cent
Workers Revolutionary Party
Jonty Leff – Workers Revolutionary Party – 86 votes/ 0.2 per cent