Labour Narrowly Avoids Shock Defeat in By-election
Candidate in Tooting ward wins by just one vote
Labour party members campaigning in the ward. Picture: Rosena Allin-Khan/Twitter
November 29, 2021
A by-election in Wandsworth Borough saw a Labour candidate win by just one vote ahead of the Conservative candidate last week.
Labour’s Sheila Boswell received 906 votes in Tooting’s Bedford ward by-election, closely followed by Tory candidate Thomas Mytton with 905 votes.
On Twitter, Mr Mytton wrote: “Well, what an end to another whirlwind four weeks. Thank you to the 905 Bedford Ward residents who trusted me with their vote. A huge thanks to the fantastic @Wandsworth and wider support for this campaign. Finally, we reduced a majority of 936 to 1, in 6 months. Bring on May ‘22.”
The election comes after Hannah Stanislaus – who was elected in May as a councillor for the Bedford ward – resigned after they claimed they were bullied out of the party. The ex-councillor identifies as a they/them.
In May 2021, Cllr Stanislaus won their Bedford ward seat in a by-election with 2,714 votes.
But Cllr Leonie Cooper, leader of Wandsworth Labour said: “These allegations [were] wholly untrue.
“Wandsworth Labour does not operate in this way, or treat one another like this. To suggest otherwise is extremely hurtful.”
The total votes cast in the by-election on Thursday, November 25 were 2,252 with a poll turnout of 21.70 per cent.
Roy Vickery from the Green Party received 306 votes and Paul Tibbles from the Liberal Democrats received 135 votes.
Cllr Boswell has been contacted for comment.