LABOUR S Glenda Jackson has secured a dramatic election into the Hampstead and Kilburn constituency in a nail biting race which ended in a photo finish between Labour, the Conservatives and the Lib Dems, writes Kate Ferguson. Glenda Jackson secured 17,

LABOUR'S Glenda Jackson has secured a dramatic election into the Hampstead and Kilburn constituency in a nail biting race which ended in a photo finish between Labour, the Conservatives and the Lib Dems, writes Kate Ferguson.

Glenda Jackson secured 17,333 votes beating Conservative candidate Chris Philp by just 42 votes and Ed Fordham for the Lib Dems by 841 votes in a tightly fought election battle which saw voter turnout hit 66 per cent, and was the tightest result as The Times went to press.

The results came after Chris Philp demanded a recount when initial figures showed that Glenda won by just 60 votes.

But the Labour vote held up under scrutiny during a recount which lasted until nearly 9.30 am.

The shock result of the night was Ed Fordham, hotly tipped throughout the race and named as bookies favourite as the polling stations opened, he slipped into third place - his failure to achieve a majority encapsulating the Liberal Democrats' inablity to capitalise on their popularity in the polls heading into the election.

Party insiders said they thought Kilburn swung strongly behind Glenda Jackson in the final stages of the vote, and anticipate the Liberal Democrats will suffer losses in council elections, to be counted today.

Glenda Jackson thanked her campaign team and said she felt honoured to be the first Member of Parliament for the new constituency of Hampstead and Kilburn.

She said: "I want to thank the people of Hampstead and Kilburn that have given me their most trusted endorsement, their vote."

She went on to thank her opponent Chris Philp - who she praised as the first person to congratulate her on her victory.

Despite his disappointment on narrowly missing out on the seta, Chris Philp praised his team for delivering a result better than many had anticipated. He said: "Nobody thought we could come this far. This is the closest seat in the country at 42 votes.

"If only we had knocked on that extra door."

Ed Fordham delivered a speech to party supporters shortly after the result and told The Times he would fight on despite the defeat.

He said: "I loved the election. I had an amazing time and do not regret a second of it. There is still work to do in Kilburn and I am confident I will have a part to play in it.

The results were:

Glenda Jackson 17,290

Ed Fordham, 16,491

Bea Campbell 759

Magnus Nielson 406

Victoria Moore 328

Tamsin Omond 123

Gene Akantara 91