Labour’s Rachel Blake has won the seat of the Cities of London and Westminster by a majority of 2,708 votes, with the constituency turning red for the first time in its history.
Blake is the first Labour candidate to win the seat, which has returned a Conservative candidate in every general election since it was created in 1950.
The constituency includes the whole of the Fitzrovia West neighbourhood area and consists of most wards in the City of Westminster and the City of London and parts of the now-abolished seat of Westminster North.
In second place was Conservative candidate and former Westminster City councillor Tim Barnes with 12,594 votes.
Edward Lucas from the Liberal Democrats came in third with 4,335 votes. A source told the Local Democracy Reporting Service support for the Liberal Democrats has “collapsed”. They claimed these voters chose to back Labour instead.
Rajiv Sinha for the Green Party came in fourth place with 2,844 votes.
Turnout for the election was 53 percent — a 14 percent drop from 2019. A total of 39,419 votes were counted. Polls leading up to the General Election indicated a tight three-horse race in the seat with the Liberal Democrats narrowly tipped to come in second place.
Blake is a first-time MP. She joined the Labour Party in 2003 and was part of the team which turned six safe Liberal Democrat seats to Labour in 2006, according to her website. In 2014, she was elected as a local councillor in Tower Hamlets and rose through the ranks to become deputy mayor in 2018. She has been a policy advisor under Gordon Brown and worked in grassroots charities supporting homeless and unemployed households. Blake has championed the development of council homes.
Barnes, a former Westminster City councillor, represented the Tories after incumbent MP Nickie Aiken announced she was stepping down after the General Election.
In her victory speech as MP, Blake said the result showed it was “time to move on”. She said: “Yesterday, people across the country had their say and we should never, ever take this for granted… A decision has been made and now it is time to move forward.
“I know many of you have voted Labour for the first time ever, voting Labour to remove the Conservatives from office, I know this. We’ve endured 14 years of Conservative-led government.
“They have presided over years of chaos and failing to implement even their own promises… Homelessness is rising. Waiting lists are rising. Bills are going up and for too long, our country has been held back.” Ms Blake has promised to make housing reform a priority.
Barnes said he was not surprised by the result and said Reform UK’s poor standing in the seat showed residents had turned their backs on “populist politics”. He also said it would be “foolish” for his party to lurch to the right and urged his colleagues to use the next few months to think about what direction the party takes next. He believes Reform UK under performed at this election.
When asked if Rishi Sunak should resign as leader of the Conservative Party, he said it was “immaterial” and repeated his plea for colleagues to take their time charting a way forward for the party.
But Greens’ candidate Rajiv Sinha felt differently. He said it was disappointing to see his party narrowly scrape past Reform UK, taking fourth place with as few as 92 votes. He said though his party did not fare well in the Two Cities, he was more optimistic about their vote nationally, where they have gained several seats.
Sinha also failed in his bid to become the Greens’ councillor for Abbey Road Ward. Sinha said he plans to run for council in 2026. Barnes said he plans on visiting his favourite fry-up after the count before heading home and planning a holiday. Blake said she was going home to rest. Some 11 candidates vied for the seat.
Cities of London and Westminster result
- Rachel Blake (Labour) – 15,302
- Tim Barnes (Conservatives) – 12, 594
- Edward Lucas (Liberal Democrats) – 4,335
- Rajiv Sinha (Green Party) – 2,844
- Tarun Ghulati (Reform UK) – 2,752
- Hoz Shafiei (Workers Party) – 727
- Liz Burford (Rejoin EU) – 352
- Hugh De Burgh (Social Democratic Party) – 110
- John Generic (Independent) – 110
- Tim Hallett (Independent) – 55
- Mathew Carr (Independent) – 34
Rejected votes: 202; Turnout: 39,419 votes (53.73 percent).
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