Sir Keir Starmer

BY the time you read this week’s issue of the New Journal, hundreds – if not thousands – of Camden residents will have already voted by post or been among the first people to visit polling stations at today’s (Thursday’s) general election. The candidates must now wait and see who you have supported with a ballot paper cross.

Our reporters will be following the results through the night from the count in King’s Cross and, in keeping with our tradition at the CNJ, we will have a round of special editions in dispensers late tomorrow (Friday) afternoon.

Copies of our editions are saved in Camden’s local archives as historical documents, while Labour’s Tulip Siddiq has a print of “Tulip Fever: Sealed With A Kiss” front page framed on her office wall.

There will be a limited run tomorrow due to logistics of turn­ing around a second edition of the paper so quickly, so get a copy when you see one. And tomorrow’s early evening edition could be charting British political history as Sir Keir Starmer, Holborn and St Pancras Labour candidate, looks set not only to be re-elected locally but also take the Labour Party into government.

The famous 2015 front page

The loudest opposition in the constituency this week was coming from independent candidate Andrew Feinstein, who is standing on an anti-war and anti-austerity ticket in the Labour leader’s seat and who was pushing through with more leaflet drops than some of the main parties.

Supporters with megaphones have been on high streets and outside tube stations, while a giant billboard was driven around on a truck. Mr Starmer said his comments about Bangladesh in relation to immigration last week had not meant to cause offence and said he had been “clumsy” in one interview, but Labour members said they were having to answer questions locally to clarify what he meant in the run-up the polls.

With national opinion polling for weeks showing Labour with a large lead, Mr Starmer will have prepared a speech for Downing Street tomorrow, with even some Tories saying their party’s aims for the election have shrunk to simply stopping Labour gaining a ‘super majority’ in the House of Commons. Commentators have regularly predicted Mr Starmer’s party will end up dominating parliament once all the votes are counted, although canvassers going on the doorstep have been warned about complacency.

Labour’s Tulip Siddiq is looking to be part of Mr Starmer’s government by getting re-elected in Hampstead and Highgate. Her office said she was not given a proper invite to a last-minute hustings event this week, which saw all the other candidates discuss what they would do if elected.

Camden councillors Danny Beales and Lloyd Hatton are also hoping to be MPs by the time you wake up tomorrow, standing in Uxbridge and Dorset respectively. You can also follow our election coverage throughout the night, Friday and the weekend on our website and Twitter/X feed.

In Islington, our sister title, the Islington Tribune, will be distributed in the evening rather than its normal morning delivery to include results.