Anne Clarke delivers her victory speech at Alexandra Palace

LABOUR candidate Anne Clarke was re-elected as the London Assembly member for Barnet and Camden on Saturday – with an increased lead over the Conservatives and a result which followed the pattern that helped Sadiq Khan secure a third term as London Mayor.

From the stage at Alexandra Palace, she said in her winners’ speech that “Londoners have rejected the politics of fear and division”, adding: “Barnet and Camden represents the best part of our city and our country, it’s our diversity, it’s our businesses, it’s our jobs, it’s our culture – and this vote is a huge endorsement of that.”

She said she was “so proud” of her victory and that of Mr Khan.

“Providing free school meals in the midst of a cost-of-living crisis is transformative,” she said.

“Improving our bus services, an extension to the 210, and another superloop. It’s incredible. Politics is about choices: the choice to improve our air quality against a bitter Conservative campaign, standing up for our values, the values of our city and hearing the values of our electorate.”

She thanked Labour campaigners in both boroughs and added: “I also want to thank my family for putting up with far too many late nights, far too many early mornings, lots of emails and my phone never stopping. It’s a huge ask of our families when we stand for office.”

Ms Clarke heads back to City Hall after winning votes from around 17 per cent of the electorate in the twin-borough constituency. Nearly two-thirds of eligible voters – 60 per cent – did not bother to take part; in comparison, around 70 per cent use their vote in the Hampstead and Kilburn parliamentary constituency at a general election.

The final result saw Labour extend its lead in Barnet and Camden over the Tories from the last London elections, having been around 13,000 votes ahead of their nearest rival in 2001, they opened the gap to 19,143.

But Conservative candidate Julie Redmond said she was “going nowhere”.

She said: “I was deeply affected by what I saw when I was campaigning in Barnet and Camden. Labour characterised any mention of the huge issues that London is facing as doing our city down. Far from it. I love London. However, pretending that it is better than it is will get us nowhere. We need an honest dialogue with the Mayor and London Assembly about the problems that normal Londoners are facing, about the crime and congestion and deep cultural divisions that are taking hold. What’s working and what’s not.”

Mr Khan had appealed to people who normally vote for the Greens or the Lib Dems to “lend” him their vote at this election, asking them if they wanted to risk Conservative candidate Susan Hall taking control of the city.

The breakdown of the results showed that in Barnet and Camden there were around 10,000 votes that he received which did not then go to the Labour Party in the wider list vote, suggesting that his plea had worked to some extent. When asked to just vote for a party in the London Assembly, the Greens added around 9,000 votes to their score.

Councillor Lorna Russell said: “Voters across Camden are turning from Labour to the Green Party in large numbers, frustrated by Labour’s lurch to the right and their failure to take the climate crisis seriously.

“As Camden’s only Green councillor, I hope I’m able to show the difference that voting Green can make in Camden by standing up for core values of social and environmental justice.”

Lib Dem candidate Scott Emery said: “I’m very grateful to the over 12,000 people who voted for me. We will continue to work hard for the residents and put in the hard work and build off of our campaign, looking towards the general election.”