Sunday, December 22, 2024

Wandsworth Council discovers 6,500 votes lost on election day in Putney constituency as questions asked over ‘Labour’s competency’

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Wandsworth Council has found 6,500 votes which were lost on election day as officials reissue results following an error.

A total of 6,558 votes across the Putney constituency were missed – approximately 15 per cent in addition to the original turnout result.


The error has not changed the election outcome with candidates seeing votes increase between 17 per cent and 13 per cent.

Labour’s Fleur Anderson remains the MP for Putney – a seat she has held since 2019.

Wandsworth Council has found 6,500 votes which were lost on election day as officials reissue results following an error (stock image)

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However, the Tory Party has raised questions over “the competence” of the election team.

It comes as the parliamentary election count was managed by the new Labour administration.

Wandsworth Council had previously been under Conservative control between 1978 and 2022.

The error has sparked concerns for other constituencies – where majorities were under 100 and could have dramatically altered the outcome.

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An apology email, which has been seen by GB News, reveals that the “mini-count tables totals were not included in the final result”.

The email reads: “These corrections have not changed the order of the result and have no discernible impact on each candidate’s share of the vote.

“We have identified the spreadsheet error which only effects this constituency and have already put processes in place to ensure this can never happen again. We are very sorry that this has happened.”

Tory councillor for Wandsworth Common, Peter Graham told GB News: “It’s extremely concerning that the Council knew the official declaration was wrong, failed to tell anyone and then hid a correction on its website.

“Trust in the electoral process matters. The lack of any public statement is worrying and basic questions are still unanswered. This shouldn’t have been able to happen.

Counting votes

The error has not changed the election outcome with candidates seeing votes increase between 17 per cent and 13 per cent (stock image)

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“The Council needs to be open and transparent. Instead, it’s running away from scrutiny. This is terrible for confidence in our democracy.”

According to the updated results, Labour’s Anderson received 24,113 votes – compared to 20,952 originally announced.

Votes for Tory candidate, Lee Roberts were updated to 11,625 – up from 10,011.

Kieren McCarthy, from the Liberal Democrats saw an increase of 754 votes while the Green’s Fergal Mcentee received another 539 votes.

Reform were presented with another 389 votes and the Worker’s Party were updated with a further 58 votes.

A spokesperson from Wandsworth Council said: “The Acting Returning Officer has apologised to all candidates and agents.”

The election page has been updated with figures.

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