No, we are not re-living the joys of last month. This is the Blackwall & Cubitt Town by-election count we’re at. We’ll post updates when we can and we’ll be first with the news when the result is out.
Kabir Ahmed, Tower Hamlets First – 726 Mohammed Aktaruzzaman, Tower Hamlets First – 713 Elaine Bagshaw, Lib-Dems – 71 Christopher Chapman, Tory – 877 ELECTED Dave Chesterton, Lab – 956 ELECTED Stephen Clarke, Lib Dem – 58 Richard Flowers, Lib Dem – 68 Katy Guttman, Green – 110 Geeta Kasanga, Tory – 762 Ellen Kenyon Peers, TUSC – 11 Faruk Khan, Tower Hamlets First – 744 Diana Lochner, UKIP – 240 Mark Lomas, Green – 98 John Peers, TUSC – 11 Anisur Rahman, Labour – 872 Mohammed Rahman, Independent – 11 Anthony Registe, UKIP – 188 Candida Ronald, Labour – 875 ELECTED Paul Shea, UKIP – 190 Chris Smith, Green – 74 Gloria Thienel, Tory – 815
Goodnight for now!
03.25: result! Christopher Chapman (Con), Dave Chesterton (Lab) and Candida Ronald (Lab) have been elected.
03.16. Sorry for the delay. The good news is that the recount is over. The bad news is that the result was inconclusive. The further bad news is that we are now on the third recount.
01.15. Yes, it was close. Yes, this is Tower Hamlets – so what do we expect? Yes, it’s a recount. We understand that two Labour candidates have been elected, but there is a Tory candidate currently in third place – only eight votes ahead of the third Labour candidate. Labour has called a recount. We’ll be back soon.
00.55. The clever money’s gone back on to Labour…
00.42: It looks like the counting has stopped… Someone must know who has won. John Biggs has turned up and is standing around looking happier than he has in weeks. What does this mean?
00.30: Further confirmation emerges from observers that the result of the single-party vote is very close. The talk is that there are perhaps 50 votes in it – with, astoundingly, the Tories looking to be ahead. Labour seem to be in second place, with Tower Hamlets First third. However, it’s now looking like a third of the ballot papers contain split votes. It could still all change yet…
00.10 It looks like they have counted the ballot papers which have cast three votes for a single party. They seem to be counting the ballot papers which include votes for more than one party. It’s very strange to be at a by-election where three candidates are being elected who are all in the same ward. The result should come soon: but still no one political party looks confident. It seems it is close and all down to the split votes: and it’s pretty much impossible to predict how they will go.
23.20. A quick peak at the parties watching the count confirms: everyone is looking really unhappy. They’ve probably all lost. One Labour observer looked like they were having a quick smile, but perhaps it was just wind.
23.15. The turnout is 31.64%. What does this mean? Stuck out of the way in the press room, it’s hard to get a feel for which parties are deflated and which still look hopeful. From here, they all look serious.
22.5o. The polls have shut and the ballot boxes have made it to Anchorage Place (next to Mulberry Place) and soon we shall know who has won the Blackwall & Cubitt Town by-election. It’s been a hard election to call – though aren’t they all? Initially it seemed as if Labour should walk it, but in the last week of the campaign it was the Tories who were the most upbeat out on the streets. Labour had put out a call for volunteers from across London to come and help, but those who were seen on the doorstep seemed a little at sea, as if the punters expected locals to be out campaigning. UKIP entered the campaign very buoyant, and they were still upbeat at the polling stations today. Tower Hamlets First looked businesslike and were giving little away. It is very pleasant in the air conditioned ninth floor of Anchorage House, but the press are tucked out of the way of the count, right at the end of the corridor, so it seems that few politicians will drop in for a chat.