The story of election night was how Reform UK denied Conservatives seat wins across the country, even with absentee candidates, including in Sutton and Cheam.
BERTIE WORCESTER-PARK reports

The final Survation prediction for the Sutton and Cheam constituency was rubbish. It hugely underestimated the Liberal Democrat vote and overestimated Labour’s chances.

Journey’s end: Luke Taylor has finally become an MP

And apart from the kickback against the Conservatives, the influence of the Reform UK vote was underplayed. It all resulted in a solid LibDem victory even with controversial candidate Luke Taylor.

It has, to use the cliché of our times, been quite a “journey” for political tourist Taylor, who after failed attempts to become an MP in two other south London seats, has finally arrived at his destination, a Westminster seat, with 36.9% of the vote, a slight increase on his party’s 2019 share in Sutton and Cheam.

Taylor’s record of foul abuse towards his political opponents and his part in the deselection of the LibDems’ original candidate, David Campanale, didn’t count for much as the voting public wanted to ensure that the Tories get a kicking.

Taylor seemed to acknowledge his shortcomings in his acceptance speech, when he self-described as “someone who is not without faults…”.

Taylor also thanked Tory Paul Scully for his services as MP for nine years, and spoke of holding the new government to account, helping the NHS and fighting the cost of living crisis. But, as with the Tories, for Taylor and 70 other LibDem MPs up against the 400-odd Labour MPs, there’s little realistic influence over the new government’s policies.

It was clear very early on at last night’s count to Sutton’s Conservatives that the rise of Farridge’s dog-whistle Reform UK party was about to cost them, eroding their 8,351 majority from 2019.

As they mingled around the sports hall for the count, the supporters and activists who backed candidate Tom Drummond recognised that Reform is a monster of their party’s own making.

Keeping check: party officials checking some contentious ballot papers

As one disillusioned campaigner confided, “Creating a political environment where the Brexiteers could persuade Conservative voters to shit on their own doorstep is a special kind of achievement.”

Drummond, who polled 28.9% of the vote, was sanguine about his defeat. “We’ve been undone by Reform here,” he told Inside Sutton before conceding defeat hours before the count was formally completed.

“I didn’t speak to a single Reform voter who wasn’t a disgruntled Conservative.

“If you add our vote to the Reform vote, we’d have won comfortably. But I have to take it gracefully.”

Labour, who came third with Croydon councillor Chrishni Reshekaron as a barely campaigning paper candidate, failed to cash in on their national success.

But it was the candidate who was never seen in the constituency, didn’t turn up to the hustings and didn’t even turn up to the count who turned the result. Ryan Powell was a no-show for six weeks, yet still polled 5,787 votes, nearly 2,000 more than Taylor’s majority.

Does Ryan Powell even exist?

Taylor will most likely continue his role as a councillor in Sutton West and East Cheam, alongside his MP role, to avoid local by-elections. Bobby Dean, who won in Carshalton and Wallington for the LibDems, is likely to come to the same decision, doubling up on ward and constituency duties at least until the 2026 local elections.

It remains to be seen whether Taylor will retain his role as chair of the Sutton Local Committee, worth more than £9,000 a year (or about £3,000 per meeting), or will still claim his councillor allowance, also worth more £12,000 a year. Taylor criticised Elliot Colburn, who stayed on as a councillor after becoming an MP in 2019 for taking his allowance, when Colburn in fact declined the money.

There are further consequences across Sutton for the political shift of last night. The Liberal Democrats, by gaining MPs across the borough, will use the massive resources this brings to try to halt the Conservatives’ onslaught on the council’s LibDem administration.

The Conservatives have lost that same resource, meaning that Sutton’s Reform voters  have unwittingly given a free hand to their council’s LibDem administration to avoid scrutiny and challenge.

Read more: ‘All I see is a divided country, with more racism and more upset’
Read more: The fundamental dishonesty around this dog-whistle election
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