The new MP for Bradford East, David Ward (centre) with Shabbir Butt (L) and Umar Farooq (R)
The Conservative party is, this morning, the largest political party in Britain but despite a number of crucial gains nationwide, the party once again failed in its' attempts to get a Tory MP elected in Bradford. After a long day of hard work involving campaigning and canvassing the Tories must have fancied their chances of a crucial breakthrough in the region but the results were once again a disappointment. In Bradford West and South, the standing Labour MP's Marsha Singh and Gerry Sutcliffe retained their seats with increased majorities whilst in the closely-fought Bradford East constituency (formerly North) Liberal Democrat David Ward edged out Labour's Terry Rooney by 365 votes on a recount. The thrilling win allows fifth-time standing Mr. Ward to end the Labour party's monopoly in Bradford and continues the long-lasting Tory misery.
The results in Bradford were part of one of the most exciting nights of election results. Some of the other headlines for me included:
- KRIS HOPKINS ELECTED IN KEIGHLEY, in a notable success for Conservatives in Yorkshire. He won by a 3,000 majority in a seat with 72.8% turnout.
- CAROLINE LUCAS FIRST EVER GREENS MP, elected in Brighton Pavilion.
- DEFEATS FOR SHAHID MALIK, CHARLES CLARKE AND JACQUI SMITH in big blows for Labour.
- 8 MUSLIM MP's ELECTED, 5 MEN, 3 WOMEN, 6 LABOUR AND 2 TORY.Including Sajid Javid, Anas Sarwar, Shabana Mahmood, Sadiq Khan, Rehman Chishti, Rushanara Ali, Khalid Mahmood and Yasmin Qureshi. Defeats for Maryam Khan and Salma Yaqoob.
- VICTORY FOR ZAC GOLDSMITH IN RICHMOND PARK.
After a long day of campaigning in the Bradford district, the main parties knew that this was one of the hardest fought elections for years and indeed there was no time for complacency. UmarOnline.com focus seat Bradford East was neck and neck with a two-horse race between Tories and Lib Dems predicted by many. However, Labour cannot be ruled out and it took an official recount for David Ward to end Terry Rooney's 20 year reign. The disappointment for the local Conservatives was the way in which the hard-fought campaign for Mohammed Riaz petered out. There seemed to be an air of confidence among the ranks but as hours passed by belief waned as realisation of Labour's dominance and Lib Dem historical record meant reliance was on the boundary changes (North to East) and a lot of luck. In the end, the Liberal promise of 'Tories can't win here' stood the test as Ward came out on top with 13,637 votes. He was pushed all the way by 2nd placed Rooney with 13,272 votes and Riaz came in at a miserly 3rd with 10,860. Ward's campaign was based on his reputation as a 'people's champion' and his record in the community was one of his main strengths. Those attributes will take him a long way and allow the community in Bradford East to maintain their trust in him. I would like to wish him all the best for the future.
Whilst defeat in Bradford East will be a bitter blow to the Tories, defeat in Bradford West was a little less expected but it was a tough battle nonetheless. The serving Labour MP, Marsha Singh is hardly an electorate favourite but his 4th election win since the first one in 1997 in Bradford West was his best yet. The opposition in upcoming Zahid Iqbal was his toughest test but one he passed again with flying colours. Iqbal, a former Bradford North candidate had started campaigning two years ago and was seen as a favourite needing to overturn a majority of 3,026. In the end, he admitted hours before the official result that 'It looks like a Labour hold at the moment. We have probably closed the gap but not by that much.' That seemed like a white flag statement and soon after, Singh was re-elected to hold on for Labour with an increased majority. The chance for Iqbal in Bradford West was the best for years and the party had selected it as target seat 76. However, once again, although Singh's campaign was quiet, it was effective and he held on to show the trust people have in him and Labour in Bradford.
Finally, a big thank you to all of you for following me on twitter @umaronline. We now have the small matter of a hung Parliament to settle and hopefully some sort of deal can be reached. Once again, umaronline.com would like to congratulate all the newly elected Parliamentary representatives.
Stay safe!
4 have their say:
Well done to Ward. Amazing win at 5th time of asking and after 26 years as cllr in Bradford. Top Man.
Tory lot wer racist in BD3. They said vote 4 muslim not white guy. dirty tactics. No wonder they lost.
A very balanced assessment of the Bradford Parliamentary Election results!
Its about time Bradfoed East got an MP who cared, their previous MP did nothing for them at all and the Tory candidate tried to bully people in to voting for him because of his religion, well it goes to show Good things come to those who wait.
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