• WHEN I came to Hampstead on May 8 1945 it was a safe Conservative seat with Henry Brooke as the MP from 1950.

Even in 1959 his majority was 12,006. But in 1964 it dropped to 1,835 as Harold Wilson became prime minister with a very small majority. In 1966 Wilson decided to call an election and Hampstead elected its first and only Labour MP, Ben Whitaker, with a majority of 2,253.

In 1970 Hampstead reverted to be a Conservative seat with Geoffrey Finsberg, who held the seat until the constituency ceased to exist after 1979 and it became Hampstead and Highgate in 1983. Finsberg held the seat until 1992 when he retired.

In 1992 Glenda Jackson won the seat partly to tactical voting. In West Hampstead there were many windows displaying “Liberal Democrat voting Labour.” Jackson held the seat for Labour until 2010 when the constituency changed its name to Hampstead and Kilburn. Jackson won by 42 votes, Ukip got 408.

In 2015 Tulip Siddiq held the seat for Labour with a majority of 1,138 but Ukip got 1,532. Labour has held the seat in its various titles for 25 years. Ukip is not standing this time. So where are the Ukip votes going? Is this the end of the wonderful Labour run?

JOHN MACDONALD
Fellows Road, NW3