All three Lewisham seats were easily held by Labour, with Vicky Foxcroft, Janet Daby and Ellie Reeves elected to Lewisham North, Lewisham East and Lewisham West & East Dulwich respectively, with healthy majorities of up to 18,000.
But the Green Party achieved a major upswing in support across the borough, knocking the Conservative and Liberal Democrat votes right down and pushing them back to third and fourth place in Lewisham North and Lewisham West & East Dulwich. In Lewisham East, the Lib Dem fell behind Reform.
Foxcroft claimed the Lewisham North seat – a reworked version of her old Lewisham Deptford seat. Daby retained Lewisham East and Reeves was elected as MP for Lewisham West & East Dulwich, a cross-borough constituency bringing together three Southwark wards and four Lewisham ones.
The election is the first to use the new parliamentary constituencies which were agreed in the most recent Boundary Commission review, and which saw some fundamental changes to the Lewisham area.
The new constituency of Lewisham North erases the Deptford name from the title, and brings Blackheath ward to join the wards of Brockley, Deptford, Evelyn, Ladywell, Lewisham Central, New Cross Gate and Telegraph Hill.
Foxcroft took the seat comfortably for Labour with 25,467 votes, a 57.7 per cent share of those cast; but where Conservative and Lib Dem candidates had previously jostled closely for second and third places on 10-per-cent shares. This year Green candidate Adam Pugh swept up a respectable 21 per cent of the vote and leapfrogged into second place.
In 2019 the Greens polled just 1,444 votes in Lewisham Deptford; in Lewisham North they clocked up 9,685 – a change in fortunes that might have been written off as a boundary-change anomaly had it not been replicated across all the Lewisham seats. Some of this might well have come from Labour, with Foxcroft previously attracting a much higher 71 per cent vote share.
The Labour landslide was very much on the move by the time Lewisham North was declared, and Foxcroft’s anticipation was evident in her acceptance speech, happily noting that her tone was much changed from before.
“I’ve been an MP for nine years and some of you may have seen my previous speeches. I have to say that the last one was my most angry one and I’m glad that maybe I’m not so angry again!” Foxcroft said. “Hopefully we’ll have that Labour government – my entire time as an MP has been in opposition and now I feel real hope for the country, and for our community, and for our young people.”
The latest bound review also resulted in changes to the former constituency of Lewisham East: Blackheath ward was moved over to Lewisham North and Bellingham ward was adopted from Lewisham West to join Catford South, Downham, Grove Park, Hither Green, Lee Green and Grove Park.
Labour’s Janet Daby retained the seat comfortably with 23,646 votes, a majority of more than 18,000 votes ahead of Green candidate Mike Herron who polled 5,573. Herron told Greenwich Wire that he had focussed his campaigning around Hither Green, the ward where he thought he had the best chance of making an impact. Reform UK candidate Ruth Handyside managed to push the Liberal Democrats into fifth place, polling 3,469 votes to their 2,471.
Housing was a recurring theme for all candidates interviewed by The Greenwich Wire – they said it was the main issue that was being raised on the doorstep.
“I repeatedly hear about problems of overcrowding, high rents, damp, rot and poor living conditions, and I am determined to hold landlords to account – whether that be private landlords, housing associations or others,” Daby said. She also pledged to focus her attention on action to address climate change, tackling asthma and respiratory conditions, and making Lewisham a safe place for children and young people.
Lewisham West & East Dulwich replaces the old Lewisham West & Penge seat. Labour’s Ellie Reeves was elected with a convincing majority of more than 18,000, but again she was shadowed more closely than ever this time with the Green Party candidate Callum Fowler picking up four times as many votes as his predecessor – from a 5 per cent share of the vote to almost 20 per cent.
Meanwhile, the by-election to elect a new councillor for Blackheath ward saw Pauline Dall of Labour poll twice as many votes as her opponents, taking 43 per cent of the vote on a turnout of 57.4 per cent. Again, Green Party support saw a significant boost, with its candidate Matt Barker polling just over a hundred votes more than Lib Dem Chris Maines to push him into third place.
Turnout was lowest in Lewisham East where just 55.6 per cent of the electorate turned out to vote; in Lewisham North this figure was 59.9 per cent, and in Lewisham West & East Dulwich a turnout of 67.2% was recorded.
Lewisham North result: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour) 25,467; Adam Pugh (Green) 9,685; Jean Branch (Lib Dem) 3,284; Nupur Majumdar (Conservative) 2,701; Edward Powell (Reform UK) 2,000; Main Akbar (Workers Party) 457; Julia Tilford (Independent) 243; Oliver Snelling (Communist Party of Britain) 211; John Lloyd (Alliance for Green Socialism) 119. Turnout 60 per cent.
Lewisham East result: Janet Daby (Labour) 23,646; Mike Herron (Green) 5,573; Louise Brice (Conservative) 4,401; Ruth Handyside (Reform UK) 3,469; Callum Littlemore (Lib Dem) 2,471; Seph Koffi (Workers Party) 577; Maureen Martin (Christian People’s Alliance) 404; Richard Galloway (Shared Ground) 96. Turnout 55 per cent.
Lewisham West & East Dulwich result: Ellie Reeves (Labour) 27,406; Callum Fowler (Green) 9,009; Josh Matthews (Lib Dem) 3,558; Christine Wallace (Conservative) 3,477; Marian Newton (Reform UK) 2,234; Gwenton Sloley (Workers Party) 427; Katherine Hortense (Christian Peoples Alliance) 303. Turnout 66 per cent.
Blackheath ward by-election result: Pauline Dall (Labour) 2,959 – elected; Matt Barker (Green) 1,472; Chris Maines (Lib Dem) 1,360; Hugh Rees-Beaumont (Conservative) 970.
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