Thank you

First, a big thank you for the incredible support given to me by so many people during (and after) the recent election.  The level of support was astonishing and humbling – the personal support, along with all the hours spent delivering, canvassing, writing and stuffing envelopes, printing, sticking up posters etc.  It was something to behold and I am intensely grateful.

Regrettably this didn’t translate to a win the in Parliamentary Election.  Through everyone’s work, we got 43.1% of the vote – the fourth highest losing vote share in the country, a higher share of the vote than Mark achieved when first elected in 1997 and 24,107 votes – more than 458 of the MPs in Parliament. Unfortunately it wasn’t enough.

We won the local election vote, but too many of our local voters switched to back the Conservatives in the General Election because (ironically) they believed the line that voting Conservative was the only way to avoid a hung parliament and get rid of Gordon Brown!

Taking majority control of the City Council for the first time since 2002

Despite our disappointment in the parliamentary campaign, we do have grounds for celebration. As a second result of the team’s hard work, we won the majority of seats on Winchester City Council for the first time since 2002!  We now have outright majority control for the first time since 2003.

The results in Chandler’s Ford are equally encouraging. We beat the Conservatives across Chandler’s Ford in the Borough Council vote for the first time ever (or at least since Martin Kyrle’s records begin in the mid-1960s).

Preparing for the future

Obviously, our councillor team have a lot to do preparing to lead the City Council, but we also need to build up our organisation and our funds for future elections and a referendum on the voting system.

As Winchester and Chandler’s Ford residents know, we are active all year round across the whole constituency. The money we raise to produce our leaflets, pay our staff and run our offices also comes from local people.

If you’re able to help with any upcoming campaign, please let me know.  We also want more people to join us as party members. You can join online at http://www.winld.org.uk/join.

Despite any personal disappointment, my commitment to Winchester and my commitment to tackling the environmental, social, economic and political crises we face – and working for a freer, fairer and greener way of living – remains undimmed. And there are a thousand ways to change the world other than being a Member of Parliament!

Once again, if you were one of the many thousands who helped my campaign or voted for me on May 6th, thank you.