The outcome of the general election was disappointing, but democracy prevailed and power transferred seamlessly.  Labour has inherited inflation back down to 2%, strong economic growth, low unemployment, and official projections of falling immigration levels and falling hospital waiting lists.

I am proud of the Conservative campaign we fought in Crawley.  Zack Ali was an excellent candidate who worked incredibly hard, but we couldn’t stop the national tide that delivered a very bad set of Conservative results.

I congratulate Peter Lamb on his election as Crawley’s MP at his second attempt and wish him well in his new role.  Ironically, he secured 1,200 more votes on his first attempt in 2019 when trying to make Jeremy Corbyn UK Prime Minister, but Labour’s fall in votes this time was exceeded by the fall in the Conservative vote from our 2019 high.  It was also not lost on me that while Reform came a distant third in Crawley, the number of votes they received was over one and a half times the gap between Labour and Conservative.

This was mirrored in many constituencies across the country and has significantly contributed to Labour’s super-majority of 172 seats.  Two thirds of parliamentary seats being won by Labour with only a third of the popular vote has raised some eyebrows.  33.7% vote share doesn’t feel like a huge national mandate for Labour, but I take the view that it was down to us Conservatives performing badly with only 24.3% of the overall vote, and that our focus should be on working to regain support, rather than complaining about parliamentary outcomes when we lost.

The political landscape has dramatically changed.  We are at risk of a one-party state in Crawley.  In May, Labour gained five council seats from us Conservatives to make the council 25 Labour and 11 Conservative, and now they have the MP who is part of a Labour super-majority.  In Crawley, for the 40% of registered electors who didn’t vote, and for those who did vote, the 62% who didn’t vote Labour, us remaining Conservative councillors are committed to giving you a voice.       

Councillor Duncan Crow, Leader of Crawley Borough Council Conservative Group

10th July 2024