Alice Perry elected as new Labour Councillor in memorable by-election victory

1am ... Alice and campaign team celebrate after the result is declared

Alice Perry was elected on August 11th with the highest share of the vote scored by Labour in any election since the early 1990s.

Labour won 52% of the vote in St Peter’s ward. The Lib Dems came second with just under 20%; the Tories were third with 17%; and the Green candidates received just 8% of votes cast.

It is worth remembering that St Peter’s Ward had been held continuously by the Lib Dems for the two decades between 1986 and 2006. The Ward is where the Tory Mayor of London lives and a key issue in the campaign was opposition to his plan to sack a quarter of all police Sergeants in Safer Neighbourhood Teams – including the Sergeant in this very Ward.

The poll represented a humiliating defeat for the Tory candidate who, at the start of the by-election campaign, claimed he “smelled blood” yet managed just 381 votes. St Peter’s is claimed to be a Tory “target seat”.

Paul Convery said of the election result “We’re very proud of Alice. Born and bred on the Cally, she will prove to be an outstanding Councillor over the coming years. Rupert Perry and I were both elected first in 1990. That was the year when the Lib Dems were almost wiped-out across Islington. St Peter’s was the sole ward they managed to hold. Times have really changed when this former bastion of Lib Dem and Tory support has voted decisively for Labour.”