Epsom West by-election results

In an extraordinarily close result, the first four candidates in last Thursday's by-election in Epsom West all came with 34 votes of each other. Regretably our excellent and hard-working candidate Julie Morris did not come first and Epsom West is now back with the Conservatives for the first time since 1993.

Whichever of these four candidates had won, in such a close contest, would have done so with the backing of less than a quarter of those who voted. Worse, because less than a quarter of those eligible actually voted, the winner was explicitly backed by less than 6% of the electors he is now responsible for representing at county hall.

Putting it another way, it means that over 76% of those who voted prefered a different candidate. It also means that over 94% of his constituents did not vote for him. Under our outdated 'First past the post' polling system, the winner does not reflect the wishes of those who went to vote, let alone the electors as a whole. This is why Proportional Representation is needed.

For the figures see Julie Morris's blog. For the full details vist Epsom & Ewell Borough Council.

Note: The two sentences above in italic were corrected at 14:20 on 22/11/2015.