Liberal Democrats ‘extremely proud’ of Newham election result despite winning no seats

Reflecting on Friday’s local election results, Newham Liberal Democrats have hailed the “progress” the party has made — despite not winning any seats on the council and picking up less than 10 per cent of votes cast in the mayoral election.

Stratford and New Town candidate Gareth Evans, who also stood to be mayor, won more votes than anyone else who failed to be elected as a councillor.

He finished third in the overall mayoral standings, narrowly behind Conservative candidate Rahima Khan but increased his party’s vote tally from 1,757 in 2014 to 6,809 in 2018.

The party fielded no candidates in Barking and Dagenham in order to focus their efforts on Newham.

“Our results show there is a genuine mood for real change in Newham,” said Mr Evans. “There is increasing demand for the council to be held to account and made open to new ideas.”

A party spokesman added that the Liberal Democrats are “extremely proud of their vote share” and “deeply appreciative so many residents were prepared to back their policies”.