Keeble's majority slashed by Lib Dems in best ever result (Andrew Simpson)

Keeble's majority slashed by Lib Dems in best ever result

May 6, 2005 6:00 PM

Liberal Democrat candidate Andrew Simpson hailed the result on Thursday in Northampton North as 'the beginning of the end of the New Labour bandwagon in the town and the establishment of the Lib Dems as the challengers to Labour'.

The result saw Labour's Sally Keeble hold the seat but with her majority slashed by reduced with the Lib Dems increasing their vote by over 40% up 6.8% on last time. The Conservative vote stayed static just increasing by 300 votes.

"This result has proved what we have said all along in that it is the Lib Dems that can challenge Labour in Northampton North, we have the best chance of beating them and this puts us in a great position to do so at the next election" said Andrew Simpson.

Conservative claims of 'making progress' were dismissed by Andrew who said "The Tories have reached their high water mark and cannot shift enough opinion towards them to win - the Lib Dems were the real opposition in the constituency and benefited accordingly"

Andrew thanked the people in Northampton North for their support and welcomed the increased vote for the party of now over 10,000. Northampton North was by far the best result for the party in Northamptonshire.

"It was a result of dedicated hard work and a great team - we will continue to build on the momentum we have created" said Andrew.

The results were:

Sally Keeble (Labour) - 16,905 (-9.2%)

Damian Collins (Conservative) - 12,945 (+0.4%)

Andrew Simpson (Liberal Democrat) - 10, 317 (+6.8%)

John Howsam (UKIP) - 1,050 (+1.1%)

Paul Withrington (SOS) - 495 (+1.2%)

Andrew Otchie (CPA) - 336 (+0.8%)