General Election Results
Commenting on today’s General Election result Diane Abbott, re-elected Labour MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington, said: “We have seen a Labour government returned for a historic third term but with a significantly reduced majority. This is a great result but there are lessons to be learned”.
Diane Abbott, whose vote share was down from 61% in 2001 to 48.6% today, continued: “Every Labour MP has felt the backlash over Iraq - some have even lost their seats - but London MPs in particular have been affected. People are still very angry, and rightly so. Hopefully this result will make the leadership realise that in the new Parliament it has to listen carefully to the public and be much more responsive to its demands.”
“I have been very saddened to see personal friends like Barbara Roche and Oona King swept away in the backlash against Blair and the war. These were hard working constituency MPs who have paid the price for the anger of Londoners about Iraq.”
Abbott, who has been an MP since 1987, went on: “Tony Blair is the first Labour leader to win three consecutive elections but his margin has decreased drastically and he has achieved the lowest share of the vote for a ruling party in modern times. The strong swing against Labour has not given Blair the mandate he would have hoped for and public faith in him may be wavering. However, our victory was unambiguous - people do not want to go back to the Tories.”
Abbott concluded: “The truth is that this has been a victory for the labour party not for Tony Blair. This has been a testing time for democracy but I for one will continue to listen to people and speak out on the issues that really matters to them. I look forward to resuming work in Parliament.”
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