Labour has staged a major upset by taking one of the wealthiest constituencies in London, from the incumbent Conservative candidate Victoria Borwick, in a dramatic result 24 hours after polling closed.

Emma Dent Coad, the Labour candidate and local councillor, overturned Borwick’s 7,000 majority by just 20 votes. She took 16,333 (42.23%) of the vote compared with Borwick’s 16,313 (42.18%), representing a swing of 11.11% to Labour.

After the second count in the early hours, officials were sent home to rest before the third and final count began at 6pm on Friday evening.

Supporters for all the candidates made their way back to the Kensington town hall for the count, although there was notably more supporters for Dent Coad. The Conservatives were said to have accepted they had not won earlier on Friday.

There were also hints of the contest being a bitter fight between rich and poor – with Borwick seen to represent the richer members of the constituency and Dent Coad the poorer. Borwick promised that the fight to win the seat back would begin on Saturday.

The atmosphere was electric and emotional outside the hall where about 40 members of local community groups from some of Kensington’s most marginalised neighbourhoods were waiting to give Dent Coad a hero’s welcome as she walked out to greet them.

After chanting her name, the crowd fell silent to hear their new MP speak. She told them: “Kensington has spoken. Always speak out, never be silent again”.

She told the Guardian: “I’m very very happy and just absolutely thrilled especially for the people outside – to give them a voice. They deserve a voice.

“They have felt very let down by politicians and I’ve been working closely with them. I’ll be speaking out for them, and for all the residents of Kensington of course but these people haven’t had a voice for a very long time. That’s what has driven me.”

She said she had only had 40 minutes’ sleep: “I’m beyond exhausted. I’m just running on adrenaline. I knew the result was possible but didn’t know what would happen in the end.”

One of her supporters, Toby Laurent Belson, said they had been fighting on many issues notably child poverty, school funding and air pollution. The controversial Notting Hill carnival is held in the constituency, an event that Dent Coad supports.

He said: “It’s a win for the community. We really feel like she is one of us rather than one of ‘them’. She feels like part of the family

“There is huge inequality and deprivation here and these issues were not addressed by the outgoing MP, so for us to have a voice finally is the story of the election. It’s representative of what’s been going on nationally.”

Dent Coad thanked the Liberal Democrat candidate Annabel Mullin for “stealing some Tory votes and letting me through”.



The Labour MP said she would focus on the area’s problems, including air pollution and housing, to overcome “unforgivable inequalities”.

She said: “This constituency is a microcosm of everything that is wrong in this country after seven years of incompetent and uncaring coalition and Tory government.

“I will do everything in my power in the next five years to make ‘One Kensington’ an example of the finest qualities of common humanity, mutual respect for all our communities and social justice to create a thoughtful, kind, co-operative and tolerant society where we can all prosper and thrive.”

In her speech after the result, Borwick said: “I wish Emma every success, but please be assured, as far as I am concerned, tomorrow I start the fight back for Kensington and the Conservatives.”



