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Battersea election result: Labour overturns large Conservative majority as minister Jane Ellison loses seat

'These are not people we should be losing from parliament, and there will be a very big post-mortem coming,' says George Osborne

Adam Withnall
Thursday 08 June 2017 22:02 EDT
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Then-health minister Jane Ellison speaking in the Commons in 2015
Then-health minister Jane Ellison speaking in the Commons in 2015 (PA)

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Labour has overturned Conservative minister Jane Ellison's majority of almost 8,000 in the London seat of Battersea, in the first major scalp of the general election as early results continue to come in.

Ms Ellison was a junior minister in the Department of Health before she was named financial secretary to the Treasury last year.

She first became an MP when she won the Battersea seat in 2010 with a majority of almost 6,000, and extended her lead in 2015 to 7,938.

But when the seat was declared at 2.02am on Friday morning it became Labour's best result of the night so far, with the party's candidate Marsha De Cordova taking 25,292 votes to Ms Ellison's 22,876 - a majority of 2,416 and a swing of 10 per cent.

Speaking after the loss of Battersea, and concerns over James Wharton in Stockton South, George Osborne said: "These are not people we should be losing from parliament, and there will be a very big post-mortem coming."

A Labour Lambeth councillor, Ms De Cordova is registered blind and has previously said her decision to run for parliament came from her experiences as a disabled woman.

According to the South West Londoner, Ms De Cordova opposed Brexit and vowed to “fight against a Tory ‘Hard Brexit’”.

Locally, she promised to “work to get more homes and better rent levels in our area and fight the cuts to our schools.”

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