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Neil Coyle celebrating victory

Labour triumphant in south east London as Tories lose out in Bexleyheath

The Labour Party won ten out of 13 constituencies in south east London in a triumphant election performance.

Labour gained one seat from the Conservative Party in Bexleyheath and Crayford, where Daniel Francis is the new member of parliament.

Francis takes up the mantle in Bexleyheath and Crayford after 19 years of it being a Conservative seat.     

However, they did win two new seats comprised of a mix of constituencies.

Clive Efford won in Eltham and Chislehurst, comprised of voters from the old Bromley and Chislehurst and Eltham seats: the former had been held by the Tories since 1997 while the latter by Efford over the same time frame.

They also won Beckenham and Penge, which was comprised of Tory-held Beckenham and Labour-held Lewisham West and Penge, courtesy of Liam Conlon, the son of Keir Starmer’s chief of staff Sue Gray.

The Conservative Party won just three seats across the south east of the capital.

While they held the Old Bexley and Sidcup seat and the Orpington seat by majorities of more than 3,000 votes, Conservative Peter Fortune held off Labour candidate Oana Olaru-Holmes in Bromley and Biggin Hill by just 302.

Labour also held seats in Peckham, Bermondsey and Old Southwark, Lewisham North, Lewisham West and East Dulwich, Lewisham East, Greenwich and Woolwich and Erith and Thamesmead.

All were won with commanding majorities – the smallest of which was 7,787 votes in Bermondsey and Old Southwark, the constituency of Neil Coyle, who was suspended by the party for racist comments before being reinstated.

Conlon will be one of the few MPs who are disabled and vowed to represent disabled people throughout the country.

He said: “Change is possible, and change is worth fighting for. As well as supporting people in Beckenham and Penge, I will work hard nationally for disabled people right across this country.”

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