John Howell wins in Henley

The Conservative Party candidate in the Henley by-election, John Howell, has won the contest to succeed Boris Johnson by pushing the Conservative share of the vote up, compared to the 2005 general election, and with the Lib Dems second and the Green Party third.

On the eve of Gordon Brown’s 1st anniversary as Prime Minister, voters went out in droves to vote against the Labour Party, pushing their candidate into fifth place – behind even the British National Party – and losing the candidate his deposit.

Henley has always been considered a safe Conservative seat, having had just one non-Conservative MP for four years since 1895. However, the fact that the Labour candidate couldn’t even manage the just-under 2000 votes required to keep his deposit is a devastating blow for Gordon Brown, who today celebrates one year in office.

The Liberal Democrats saw their share of the vote rise, although not impressively. They ran a largely negative campaign with attacks on Conservative John Howell. ConservativeHome has commented, following their failure at the Henley poll, on the fact that the Lib Dem “by-election machine will need an overhaul after this”.

Mr Howell told the BBC:

The British public has sent a message to Gordon Brown ‘get off our backs, stop the endless tax rises and help us cope with the rising cost of living’,” he said.

It’s clear that the New Labour coalition is falling apart and that the Conservatives under David Cameron’s leadership are on the march.

It is our agenda of giving people more opportunity and control over their own lives, of making families stronger and society more responsible, of making Britain safer and greener that is setting the pace in politics now.

Full Result

For information: I had this story at 01:49, the BBC Website at 01:56. I had posted the full result at 02:03, the BBC Website posted at-a-glance results at 02:12.