Rising like a phoenix from the ashes, Dawn Butler has sailed back into Brent Central in a landslide victory for the Labour Party.
She won with a 62 per cent majority, 29,216 votes, a majority of almost 20,000 and a climb from her defeated 18,681 against Sarah Teather the former Liberal Democrat MP who beat her in 2010 with a 1,345 lead.
This morning the 44-year-old told a cheering crowd at Brent Civic Centre in Engineers Way, Wembley, that she thanked God for her “blessed campaign”.
She said: “People of Brent Central I will not let you down. Very few places have felt the uncaring cuts like Brent of this government. This is not my win it’s our win.
“This isn’t my victory it’s our victory.”
One of the top scoring Labour candidates in the country, Ms Butler gained more votes than Hampstead and Kilburn winner Tulip Siddiq and Camden and Holborn Labour success Kier Starmer,
Ms Butler admitted she was “quite nervous” when she arrived for the count and refused to look at the polls where her party was taking a hammering nationally, particularly in Scotland.
She said: “In Brent the Lib Dems and the Tories have rightly been judged by their actions, their cruel actions and not by their words.”
She told the Times: “I’m going to write a thank you letter to everybody in Brent for voting for me whether they did or not. This is a changing point for Brent, it’s not going to be the Brent of the last five years.”
She said her priority was the NHS saying: ”I’m going to stop the Conservatives from destroying the NHS if it’s the last thing I do.”
Ms Butler was highly tipped to win throughout the night, as the ballot papers rose in her favour.
Dr Alan Mendoza, a former councillor in the Preston ward, came second for the Conservatives with 9,667 votes.
He said: “I’m delighted we doubled our vote. I want to congratulate Dawn on her massive majority but I will be back, holding her to account.”
Lauren Keith, the 30-year-old Lib Dem candidate, who came third, said: “I knew it was going to be hard going here. Sarah (Teather) stepped down and me coming in at the last minute was never going to be the most plain sailing experience. “
She added. “I wish Dawn all the best, she’s worked hard for it.”
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