Moon doubles her majority
LABOUR’S Madeleine Moon retained the Bridgend constituency seat she has held since 2005 – and more than doubled her majority in the process.
LABOUR’S Madeleine Moon not only held the Bridgend constituency in the General Election but dramatically increased her share of the vote in a seat which had been strongly targeted by the Conservatives.
Prime Minister Theresa May campaigned in the seat days after calling the election with the Tories looking to turn the constituency blue for the first time since the 1980s.
But despite fears from Labour that they could lose, Mrs Moon retained the seat she has held since 2005 and more than doubled her majority in the process.
Mrs Moon polled 21,913 votes – 4,700 more than her nearest rival Karen Robson, of the Conservative Party, taking a 50.6% share of the vote, an increase of 13.5% on 2015.
In 2015 she had a majority of just 1,297.
So it was no wonder that, after the traditional thanks for agents and party colleagues were out of the way, she took aim at Mrs May in her victory speech.
Referring to the PM’s flying visit to address the party faithful at the start of the campaign she said: “She popped in, got out of her car, went into a community centre in Brackla, held a triumphant rally and forgot the first, most important lesson of politics: you talk to the electorate.
“They’re the people who make the decision, they’re the people who actually have the vote, and they’re the people who didn’t like being taken for granted which is why we’ve had the results we’ve had tonight.
“I never in all my elections, and I’ve been doing them for quite a long time, had so many fascinating and in-depth conversations on the doorstep.
“In this election the public was really informed, really wanted to know, and so many people have read manifestos in a way that I’ve never come across before.
“And that’s the big mistake you make when you think you can just take the public for granted and take an election because you think the polls are going to go your way.
“I think we’ve all learned a huge lesson from the Prime Minister: don’t take the people of Wales, and especially the people of the Bridgend constituency, for granted.”