Tomlinson becomes the first Labor MP for Chipping Barnet

The economist beat former cabinet minister Theresa Villiers, who had held the seat since 2005, David Floyd reports

Dan Tomlinson celebrated victory this morning after being elected as the first Labor MP for Chipping Barnet.

Foundation economist Joseph Rowntree beat former Tory minister Theresa Villiers by 2,914 votes in the seat she has held since 2005.

In his victory speech, Tomlinson said: “It is a huge and overwhelming honor to be elected as your first Labor MP.”

Villiers, who had fought hard on local issues, opposing local housing developments and organizing protests against the ULEZ extension, congratulated Tomlinson on his victory and signed off: “Barnet is a special place and I have always fought to keep it that way” before to finish. : “It was great. This is. Thank you and goodbye.”

The result means Chipping Barnet has a Labor MP for the first time since its creation in 1974.

When Labor secured its previous landslide victory in 1997, the then Tory MP Sir Sydney Chapman retained the seat with a majority of just 1,035.

While Villiers increased the Tories’ majority to almost 12,000 by 2010, it has since drifted towards Labour, with Barnet councilor Emma Whysall losing by just 353 votes in 2017.

Full report and post-result interview with Dan Tomlinson to come tomorrow.

Results:

Majority – 2914

Voter turnout – 65.5%

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