When Tony Blair came into power in 1997, MP Martin Linton won the Battersea seat with 50.7% of the constituency’s vote.
At the next general election in 2001, Mr Linton lost just 0.4% of the vote and was relected as Battersea’s MP by 50.3% of voters.
But in 2005, he lost 10% of his supporters, winning the seat by 40.4%.
Did he lose this support because of disillusionment with Labour on a national scale or on a local scale?
Well, locally he has campaigned for bus routes, a tube link for Battersea to be in place by 2012 and to renovate South Thames College.
On the Progress website, he pinpointed some of his other achievements: “I've helped stop all-day flights into Heathrow; 42-storey blocks in Clapham Junction and a residential area in Wandsworth; and the closure of Battersea Arts Centre and Wandsworth Museum.”
Mr Linton also won 13th ‘leanest cat’ by a think tank – ‘fat cats’ are those MPs who claim a lot of expenses.
So, the fact he’s been voted as Battersea’s MP on numerous occasions coupled with his achievements locally suggest he has done a good job.
Could it therefore be disappointment in Labour nationally that resulted in him losing votes over time? I hope to go into Battersea to find out, so WATCH THIS SPACE.
