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Published: 14 May 2010
by JAMIE WELHAM and JOSIE HINTON

“TO be honest I had written a losing speech,” admitted an emotional Karen Buck as she defied the odds to clinch victory in the battle for Westminster North.

Defeating Conservative rival Joanne Cash by 2,126 votes – a 0.6 per cent swing away from Labour – Ms Buck will now enter her fourth term in Parliament, albeit on the Opposition benches.

While Ms Cash blamed the media for her defeat, Ms Buck put it down to  old-fashioned pavement politics.

And as red rosettes were flung in the air at the Queen Mother Sports Centre in Victoria on Friday morning, Ms Cash refused to accept her loss graciously – storming off stage amid boos and heckles in what will be remembered as one of the most bizarre episodes of the election.

A clearly overwhelmed  Ms Buck said: “I’m completely blown away given what we’ve been watching with the early part of the news. I thought I had lost, not by much, but I thought I had.

“We had 250 people working and giving their all to the campaign. We contacted 18,000 people, which is unheard of, and I felt it was going to be very close. But I felt it might have slipped away at the end.

“I’m thrilled to have the privilege to once again represent this constituency. I hope everyone has enjoyed working so hard, we have pounded the streets in competition for this constituency.”

In the weeks leading up to May 6, a Cash win was being talked about as a near certainty and the bookies had stopped taking bets. 

Now, as the recriminations begin, those who were unconvinced about her will point to the controversy earlier in the year when Ms Cash handed in her resignation following a row with her association – she was later reinstated. It may be seen as proof of how divisive she was among core Tory voters in St John’s Wood, Regent’s Park and Bayswater. 

In her concession speech she accused Westminster’s media of peddling lies about her fam­ily.

“This is a very strange night up and down the country, there are very strange results everywhere.” said Ms Cash. “But the Westminster North media played an incredibly powerful role, and we have to face the question about what their role will be going forward. Are they going to tell the truth or are they going to trash people, lie about their families? And hello to my family who are watching. 

“This probably is the only chance I will get to put the record straight and it’s not conventional to do so at a time like this, but I want to do. 

“Whatever the result through the rest of country, the rest of night, the Conservatives have a vision for this country and I hope we can find a way to implement that.”

Liberal Democrat candidate Mark Blackburn’s share of the vote dropped by 5.7 per cent to 13.9 per cent. 

In his speech he paid tribute to his Labour rival, saying: “I have to say to Karen Buck, you’ve misquoted me – you ‘are’ not ‘were’ a very good MP and Westminster North deserves you.”

In the borough’s other constituencies, Cities of London and Westminster Conservative Mark Field comfortably retained his seat with 19,264 votes giving him an overall majority of 52.2 per cent – up 3.9 per cent.

Fighting for second place, Labour’s Dave Rowntree pipped Liberal Democrat Naomi Smith to the post with 8,188 votes to her 7,574.

Mr Field said: “It was a long and winding road here. I dedicate this vic­tory to the greatest inspiration in my life – my two-year-old son.”