RESULT: Vince Cable holds Twickenham (From Richmond and Twickenham Times)
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General Election 2010: Liberal Democrats' Vince Cable holds Twickenham
5:40am Friday 7th May 2010 in News By Joanna Kilvington
Winner: Vince Cable
Vince Cable has been re-elected as MP for Twickenham.
Dr Cable, who has held the seat since 1997, saw off a challenge from Conservative candidate Deborah Thomas and Brian Tomlinson, representing the Labour Party.
He polled 32,483 votes, more than 12,000 more than Ms Thomas who got 20,343.
Taking to the stage, Dr Cable thanked his team for their help in securing his win.
He also spent time thanking his voters.
He said: "Above all I'd like to thank the people of Twickenham for returning a majority.
"I've been doing work around the country but the really important thing is the community that I serve and I look forward to the next few years."
Mr Tomlinson polled 4,583 while UKIP's Brian Gilbert got 868 and Steve Roest, of the Green Party, got 674.
BNP candidate Chris Hurst polled 654 votes while Paul Armstrong, of the Magna Carta Party, got 40 and Harry Cole, of Citizens for Undead Rights and Equality, got 76.
Dr Cable joined the Lib Dems shadow cabinet in October 1999 and is the party’s current deputy leader and shadow chancellor.
He has been talked about as a potential chancellor if the election ends in a hung parliament.
But as he arrived at the count he laughed off any suggestion of this.
The turnout for the seat was 75 per cent.
Ms Thomas said she was thrilled to be part of such a "high profile" election race and would not give up her fight for the Twickenham seat.
She said: "I was born and brought up in the borough.
"I'm proud of the campaign we fought. We've run a very strong campaign.
"The battle for the 2015 election starts tomorrow as far as I'm concerned.
"Well, maybe after 24 hours."
Mr Tomlinson thanked everyone for their support and said it had been a pleasure to stand as a Labour candidate in Twickenham.
Comments(3)
Twickenham Bob
says...
3:39pm Fri 7 May 10
She is making a real impact in the constituency & becoming well known for her hard work.
Phillip Taylor
says...
9:54am Mon 10 May 10
For instance, in Heathfield ward I was appalled at the complete neglect by the Liberal Democrat Administration of their obligations to sort out some of the big problems. I do not blame the previous 3 LibDem councillors specifically because it seems to me the problem is much bigger- whenever there are attempts to do something constructive to help the residents, the attempts are blocked. Let's get them unblocked!
Just one example for starters, is it not about time that the Co-op building in Whitton High Street is sorted out properly. Tyhe builidnjg is a disgrace to the area. The Health and Safety Executive have not acted properly to sort the mess out and have been falling down in their duties to local residents.
Phillip Taylor
Julie Hill says...
10:27am Fri 7 May 10
Dr Cable pledges to serve his community. I hope he does and also works in a constructive way with the three new Conservative Twickenham Riverside Councillors.