Millions of voters across London are going to the polls to elect the new Government. The Standard looks at key battleground and other seats in the capital, and has published an interactive map. Here we turn the spotlight on:
CITIES OF LONDON AND WESTMINSTER
Estimated declaration time 3.30am
Candidates for main parties (in alphabetical order):
Tim Barnes - Conservatives
Rachel Blake - Labour
Edward Lucas - Liberal Democrats
Giuseppe Pezzulli - Reform UK
Rajiv Rahul Sinha - Green Party
Summary: Never before has the Monarch awoken in Buckingham Palace to find himself or herself in a Labour constituency. But it might be worth a Royal wager that the King’s sprawling palace will be in a Red seat come July 5.
Tory Nickie Aiken won the seat in 2019 with a majority of 3,953. She was a high-profile leader of the flagship Tory city hall of Westminster before entering Parliament but has now stood down as the local MP.
Now, the council is Labour run and the Conservatives have a battle on their hands to stop the constituency following suit.
Five years ago, Chuka Umunna, who resigned from Corbyn’s Labour and later joined the Lib Dems, gained 13,096 votes.
The Labour candidate Gordon Nardell came third with 11,624. There is unlikely to be such an even split of the Left of Centre vote this time and it looks a two-way fight between Labour and the Tories. But you can’t quite rule out a surprise Lib Dem win if the Conservative vote collapses.
Wards: Abbey Road, Hyde Park, Knightsbridge & Belgravia, Marylebone, Pimlico North, Pimlico South, Regent’s Park, St James’s, Vincent Square, West End and the City.
Cities of London and Westminster constituency map: Purple shaded area old constituency boundary. Green outlines new constituency boundaries © OpenStreetMap contributors | © CARTOBoundary changes impact (Thrasher and Rawlings analysis): Boundary changes have made this slightly more of a Conservative seat but their expected main challenger, Labour, is pushed up into second place. It was 39.9 per cent Conservative in 2019, 30.7 per cent Lib Dem and 27.2 per cent Labour. Under the new boundaries it would have been 40.3 per cent Tory, 28.9 per cent Labour and 28.2 per cent Lib Dem.
YouGov MRP poll prediction: Labour gain from Conservatives
Evening Standard view: The Tories once used to be strong in key Inner London constituencies but this tide has been receding for years. So, it will come as no surprise if Cities of London and Westminster is the latest Conservative former safe seat to fall.
Click below to see more key seats across London:
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