Colourful characters brighten up PM’s count

IT was a night of colourful characters but no real surprises at the Maidenhead count.

With 13 candidates to choose from, including a number of independents, 76.72% of the Prime Minister’s constituency turned out to cast their vote on Thursday.

With the counting taking place at the Magnet Leisure Centre in the heart of the town centre, the eyes of the world were firmly fixed on Maidenhead, with CNN, Sky News and the BBC, as well as The Wokingham Paper, all cramming to get a glimpse of the PM on what turned out to be a disastrous night for the Conservatives.

Theresa May defended her seat, which she has held since 1997, with a whopping 37,718 votes, with her nearest rival Pat McDonald scooping 11,261 for Labour.

Speaking after the results, Mr McDonald said: “I’d like to thank everyone who voted for Labour, and I am delighted that so many people felt the need to vote for change and for a better future.”

Tony Hill for the Liberal Democrats came home with 6,540 votes, while Derek Hall finished fourth with 907 votes, and UKIP’s candidate, Gerard Batten, claimed 871 votes.

The Prime Minister’s constituency traditionally attracts the more left-field candidates, and Maidenhead did not disappoint.

With representations from the Animal Welfare Party (Andrew Knight – 282 votes); the Christian People’s Alliance (Edmonds Victor – 69 votes) and the Monster Raving Loony Party (Howling Laud Hope – 119 votes), the people of the Maidenhead constituency, which includes Wargrave, Twyford, Sonning and Knowl Hill, had plenty of choice on the day.

Other candidates took the opportunity to stand against the Prime Minister to raise awareness of their individual campaigns, such as Yemi Hailemariam, who is lobbying the government to do more to secure the release of her partner Andargachew Tsege, who is prominent in Ethiopian politics. Yemi secured 16 votes.

Bobby ‘Elmo’ Smith campaigned for a change to the family court system dressed as the bright red Sesame Street character, and was seen outside the PM’s local polling station in Sonning on Thursday morning.

Mr Smith, who received three votes, said: “It was important for us to be in Sonning, to raise awareness of our campaign and get our message out there.”

Julian Reid, an ‘alternative conservative’ brought home 52 votes for the Just Political Party, while Grant Smith picked up 152 votes during his first election, describing his politics as broadly centrist and liberal.

But one of the most elusive characters of the evening, and one who most people were keen to hear from, was the enigmatic Lord Buckethead, an independent candidate and ‘intergalactic space lord’, who scooped 249 votes, coming in seventh place.

Having previously stood against Margaret Thatcher in Finchley in 1987, and John Major in Huntingdon in 1992, 2017 saw the cape-wearing candidate pick up a record number of votes for his ‘Gremloid’ campaign.

Mrs May herself appeared at the count very late in the proceedings, running a gauntlet of reporters as she arrived, many of whom asked her if she was planning to resign following the chaos of her party’s national campaign.

Speaking immediately after the result, Mrs May said: “At this time more than anything else this country needs a period of stability.

“Getting the Brexit deal right, ensuring that we both identify and show how we can address the big challenges facing our country, doing what is in the national interest.

“Whatever the results are, the Conservative party will ensure that we fulfil our duty in ensuring that stability, so that we can all, as one country go forward together.”