An enlarged turnout amongst students is being thanked for an increased vote for Labour in Oxford East, as Anneliese Dodds was elected the new Labour MP in yesterday’s general election
Anneliese Dodds won the Oxford East consituency, which contains the majority of Oxford colleges, with 35,118 votes – representing an increase of 15 points to 65 per cent of the vote share. She increased 30-year MP Andrew Smith’s majority by around 8,000 votes.
In Oxford West and Abingdon, which contains a minority of Oxford colleges including St Hugh’s and St Anne’s, the Liberal Democrat candidate Layla Moran snatched the seat from Tory MP Nicola Blackwood, with 26,256 votes to Blackwood’s 25,440.
The National Union of Students have said Oxford East was one of a number in which the Labour vote share had benefitted from an increased youth turnout. In Oxford East, turnout increased by 4.6 per cent, as the Labour vote share increased by by 15 points. Long queues were reported in many constituencies.
A high turnout among young voters boosted Labour's vote share, the National Union of Students @nusuk says #GE2017 https://t.co/FjnAFwbjP2 pic.twitter.com/egpqznu3VO
— BBC News England (@BBCEngland) June 9, 2017
Speaking to Cherwell last night, Anneliese Dodds spoke of her encouragement as the results came in. “Here in Oxford it has felt very very encouraging, they have been very supportive of Labour,” she said.
The results in Oxford matched Cherwell‘s recent poll of students which suggested that almost half of students at the university were planning to vote Labour in the general election.
Full results below.
Oxford East
Anneliese Dodds – Labour – 35118
Suzanne Barlington – Conservative – 11834
Kirsten Johnson – Liberal Democrat – 4904
Larry Sanders – Green – 1785
Chaka Artwell – Independent – 255
Oxford West and Abingdon
Layla Moran – Liberal Democrat – 26256
Nicola Blackwood – Conservative – 25440
Marie Tibdall – Labour – 7573
Alan Harris – UKIP – 751