Monday 19 September 2011

Labour win Highgate by-election fight - Greens vow to hold them to account

Here are the final results from the Highgate by-election held on Thursday 15 September 2011:

Anthony Denning, Conservative - 593
Sally Gimson, Labour - 1178
Martin Hay, Liberal Democrat - 111
Alexis Rowell, Green Party - 947

Labour threw everything at this campaign in Ed Miliband's home ward. They threw mud at me, they wrote fantasy leaflets and they sent packs of eight canvassers at a time into the streets. And it was an election on their terms - a short campaign during the holiday period with many Green activists absent for the crucial last weekend of campaigning because of the national Green Party conference.

But I'm proud of the campaign we fought. One more week, and a few more community organisers spilling the beans on Labour's porky pies, and perhaps we'd have made it over the line. The passion, the commitment and the energy I saw in our team augur well for the future and prove the Greens have plenty of fight in them. And our thank you party in Forks on Saturday night was fabulous. There were so many people it felt like we were the winners not the losers.

Thank you to everyone in Highgate who voted Green, to all those who helped in the campaign, to those who put up posters, and to the residents who talked to us on the doorsteps and on the phone. Thanks especially to Cllr Maya de Souza for being such an excellent Highgate Green councillor that her reputation for hard work and friendliness preceded me wherever I went.

Well done to Sally Gimson. I'm sure she'll make a good councillor although I think the community will have a lot of questions for her in the weeks and months ahead. Over Highgate Library, over the Holly Lodge Community Centre and over the Safer Neighbourhood Police Team - we and the residents of Highgate will hold Sally and Labour to account.

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