ELECTION 2017: Labour storm to victory in Luton

A Tory campaign to win seats in Luton was crushed last night after Labour stormed to a landslide victory.

Crowds at Luton Inspire Sports Village let out cheers as Labour MPs Kelvin Hopkins and Gavin Shuker both received nearly double the number of votes as their nearest rivals.

Luton North MP Kelvin Hopkins won with 29,765 votes and said it was an “astonishing result”.

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He said: “One of the things that’s happened in this election is we’ve seen a change of view, of attitude, of approach to politics.

“We’ve seen people taking issues seriously. It’s not about image, it’s about what politicans are going to do - keeping promises, being principled, and standing up for beliefs.”

Describing himself as an “unashamed democratic socialist”, Mr Hopkins also paid tribute to Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.

He said: “The success across this country, when we thought we were going to be wiped out... we’ve won many seat from the opposition parties. This is down to the leadership we’ve had.”

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Luton South MP Gavin Shuker also celebrated an impressive victory with 28,804 votes. This increased his majority to 13,925, well beyond the 5,711 achieved in 2015.

He said: “I’ve lived in Luton all my life and I believe it’s best when it’s represented by someone who is committed to the town whether they win or lose.”

Mr Shuker shied away from any mention of the Labour leader and instead paid tribute to a strong local campaign, saying they had seen off much of the ‘scaremongering’.

He added: “We’ve sought to engage with the challenges that are going to face the next MP, to get a good Brexit deal that keeps easyJet flying and Vauxhall building vans.

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“What is clear is that Theresa May’s gamble – to go for an early election, to turn up like the school bully constantly hitting our communities hard then saying ‘reward us by voting for us’ – has been rejected.

“I can only view that as a positive thing for our town.”

See breakdown of results below.

LUTON NORTH

LABOUR: Kelvin Hopkins - 29,765

CONSERVATIVE: Caroline Kerswell - 15,401

LIB DEM: Rabi Martins - 808

GREEN: Simon Hall - 648

LUTON SOUTH

LABOUR: Gavin Shuker - 28,804

CONSERVATIVE: Dean Russell - 14,879

LIB DEM: Andrew Strange - 1,056

GREEN : Marc Scheimann - 439

UKIP: Ujjawal Ub - 795

INDEPENDENT: Abi Ali - 160