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Wednesday 4th December 2019
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Don't turn Chelsea & Fulham into Kensington
Next Thursday’s General Election will be the most important of our lifetimes.
Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party is gaining and is closing the gap. This is particularly true in London. Labour is up 8% in the latest London YouGov poll, compared with the previous month, at the expense of the Liberal Democrats, whose vote is collapsing.
YouGov: 28 November - 2 December (London)
So could Labour win here in Chelsea & Fulham? The answer is clearly yes.
My majority is just over 8,000. That is almost identical to the majority the Conservatives had in Kensington last time. Yet that majority was turned into a Labour victory by just 20 votes, making Kensington the most marginal constituency in the country.
Many people wonder – how did Labour win Kensington in 2017?
Looking at the numbers then, two things happened. First, the Labour vote went up, just as it is going up today across London. Second, more than 2,000 previous Conservatives switched to the Lib Dems, which is also a risk next Thursday in Chelsea & Fulham.
The net effect was just enough to give Kensington a tiny majority for Labour last time. Of course, those 2,000 previous Conservative voters didn’t end up with the Lib Dem MP they might have wanted. The Lib Dems finished a poor third with just 12%. Instead, they ended up with a hard-core Corbynite, in Emma Dent Coad, who is dedicated to putting Jeremy Corbyn into 10, Downing Street.
So we mustn’t allow Chelsea & Fulham to become the next Kensington. This is how Jeremy Corbyn could still win a majority and be in 10, Downing Street next Friday morning.
The only way to be sure to keep Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell out of Downing Street is to vote for Greg Hands and the Conservatives next Thursday.
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Respected pollster Peter Kellner writing in The Observer, Sunday 24 November
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Tory moderates come to campaign for Greg Hands
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Campaigning alongside Sir Patrick McLoughlin and Nicky Morgan in Parsons Green
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Campaigning alongside Sir Nicholas Soames in Sloane Square
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Campaigning alongside Jeremy Hunt (whom Greg supported in the recent leadership contest) at Fulham Broadway
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Campaigning alongside Sarah Newton in Fulham
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Campaigning alongside Tom Tugendhat and Damian Green in Chelsea
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Campaigning alongside Jo Johnson near Parsons Green
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Campaigning alongside Lord Willetts near Putney Bridge
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Campaigning alongside Ed Vaizey in Fulham
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Greg Hands: Continuing the fight against the Heathrow Third Runway
As you will know, I resigned from the Government over this disastrous proposal in June 2018.
It was the first resignation from a Government Minister regarding a constituency matter in over a century.
But it was the right thing to do. In the lead-up to the 2017 General Election, I had promised my constituents on over 10,000 leaflets that I would oppose Heathrow expansion in a vote in Parliament.
I am still firmly against a Third Runway at Heathrow. It is a disastrous proposal that will seriously affect our local area in terms of air quality, noise pollution, traffic congestion, and for numerous other reasons. It is in neither the national nor our local interest.
And, it is important to me to be true to my word and my election pledges. That is why I resigned from the Government.
One of my last acts in Parliament was to become Co-Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Heathrow Expansion – the main parliamentary caucus against the Third Runway.
I will continue to lead the campaign against a Third Runway if I am re-elected as your MP on 12 December.
Despite my stand and vote against it, in June 2018 Parliament approved plans for the Third Runway to be built. However, I welcome my party’s manifesto ahead of next week’s election on this issue, which represents a significant shift, stating that: “It is for Heathrow to demonstrate that it can meet its air quality and noise obligations, that the project can be financed and built and that the business case is realistic. The scheme will receive no new public money.”
This follows the Prime Minister’s comments in August that he has “lively doubts” about the Third Runway, and the Transport Secretary Grant Shapps questioning whether the figures for it “stacked up”.
Labour are the only other political party that can form a Government following this election. And, in Chelsea & Fulham, elections are always between the Conservatives and Labour. Disappointingly, Labour’s manifesto states that: “Labour recognises the Davies Commission’s assessment of pressures on airport capacity in the South East.” The Davies Commission was the reporting body that recommended a Third Runway in the first place. I have no doubt that a Labour Government would proceed with the Third Runway without hesitation.
The fight against a Third Runway is not over. By re-electing me as your MP on 12 December, you will be served by someone who has a proven track record in doing everything in their capacity to oppose a Third Runway at Heathrow.
I need your support at the ballot box on 12 December so I can continue to fight the Heathrow Third Runway.
I hope that I can count on your support.
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My June 2018 speech resigning from the Government to vote against the Heathrow Third Runway
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