TRADITIONALLY Tory Bromley has elected its first Labour MP for 40 years while voters helped the Conservatives increase their council dominance.
Boundary changes led to the Penge area being incorporated into the Lewisham West constituency to become Lewisham West & Penge.
This seat was won by Labour’s Jim Dowd who had represented Lewisham West for 17 years.
He said: “I am really excited by this opportunity. “For too long I have seen Penge, Clock House and Crystal Palace neglected by the Tories in Bromley.
“I want a fair share for everyone, with action on the issues that matter to you.”
Mayor of London Boris Johnson’s brother Jo won a resounding victory in Orpington for the Tories with 29,200 votes, 17,200 more than his nearest rival David McBride for the Liberal Democrats.
Ex-British Army officer Colonel Bob Stewart got 27,597 votes in the Beckenham constituency, increasing the Tories majority in the constituency to 17,784.
Conservative Bob Neill retained the Bromley & Chislehurst seat which he originally won in a by-election in 2006.
In the local election the Tories won 53 of the 60 seats, six more than they had before Thursday.
This included a narrow victory for Conservative candidate Richard Scoates in Darwin ward who polled 1,362 votes.
He beat the former councillor Peter Bloomfield, who was standing as an independent candidate after being deselected by the Tories, by 67 votes.
Liberal Democrats lost ground in their former traditional stronghold of the Crays and now only hold four seats.
Bromley Council’s Conservative leader Councillor Stephen Carr said: “You can imagine how pleased we are.
“My close colleagues have spent a lot of time in resolving issues in the Crays and these results acknowledge that.
“I think it vindicates our initiative for building a better Bromley.
“We are coming from a relative high already and I’m delighted with the results.”
Labour kept hold of their three seats in the Penge & Cator ward and gained ground in the neighbouring wards of Crystal Palace and Clock House.
The leader of the Labour group at Bromley Council John Getgood said: “This has been a resoundingly successful election for Labour in the Penge and Crystal Palace area.
“We will be represented by a Labour MP, we have increased our share of the vote in Penge & Cator by 10 per cent, turned Crystal Place from a safe Lib Dem seat into a marginal and come close to taking a seat in Clock House.
“Voters have recognised that with Labour they have the best chance of hard working, local representatives committed to fighting for their area.”
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