Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
From despair to joy after exit poll’s forecast for city
Huddled around a TV in the corner of the Westgate Hall, Labour Party members were despondent and glum-faced. Things were certainly not looking rosy. The 10pm exit poll suggested a disaster across the country, with dozens of red seats turning blue. Had Rosie Duffield’s time in office come to an abrupt end? More disappointing news followed with the localised BBC poll predicting an 88% chance of victory for the Conservatives in Canterbury.
What had appeared a neckand-neck race throughout the campaign trail was now forecast to be won by Tory hopeful Anna Firth.
Tense senior Labour councillor Alan Baldock admitted “it’s not looking good” and other apprehensive supporters spoke of their growing nerves after seeing the predicted outcome. Meanwhile, in the Tory camp, moods were brighter. Following the exit poll there were sighs of relief and pats on the back from relieved supporters. While remaining tight-lipped on how he saw the night panning out, city council leader Rob Thomas told Gazette reporters at the count he was excited at the prospect of working with a Conservative MP. “Anna is fresh-thinking and can come in with new ideas - I would love to work alongside her,” he said.
Local party chairman Simon Cook had pen and clipboard in hand throughout the night as he kept a watchful eye on the votes being counted, and Cllr Neil Baker pored over the numbers as he tallied up the Tory take on the results.
As well as the Gazette, BBC, Sky and ITV, journalists from across Europe applied for media accreditation - including a TV channel from Malta.
Due to the great press interest, the city council had opened up the foyer at the Curzon cinema as a secondary media centre and bar area... leading to some party members spending as much time buying alcohol as they did surveying the counting hall. Come 2.20am, all of the votes had been counted and verified. The result was ready to be announced, yet there was still no sign of Ms Duffield.
Her campaign manager, Malcolm Powers, shed a tear, seemingly in relief at what appeared to be victory, while being heard to joke: “They best not find another ballot box to empty.” Council officials in charge of coordinating the count were getting increasingly fidgety as they prepared to reveal who 60,113 constituents had voted for - they were prepping for the possibility of announcing the result without the main star in attendance. Murmurs of a Labour victory were circling around the hall and the previously-chirpy spirits of the Tories had been exchanged for solemn looks accepting defeat.
There were no calls for a recount and it was clear the mum-of-two had held on to her seat.
But as the tables were pushed back and media crews hurriedly set up in front of the stage, Ms Duffield remained illusive. “I was told the result was at 4am so I thought I’d sit still and watch it at home for a bit,” she told the Gazette afterwards. “I kept calling my team and they said, ‘no you’re all right, don’t come yet, there’s only two candidates here’. “I deliberately didn’t want to know, but I heard about the 88% chance of the Conservatives winning the seat.
“To be honest, I wasn’t really watching Canterbury as I was watching the party go down and down and down on the TV. “Then I got a phone call saying ‘quick, they’re just about to announce’.
“There’s a point where you know beforehand and my team were on the phone saying it’s looking much better so we rushed over - it was all a bit crazy and very last minute.” Like a celebrity arriving at a movie premiere, the Labour candidate entered Westgate Hall to loud cheers from expectant party members.
Within seconds of arriving she was called into a huddle with her opponents before council chief executive Colin Carmichael quietly showed them the results.
Then taking to the stage in front of a crowd of press, supporters and bleary-eyed counters, Ms Duffield was announced the victor.
Admitting her disappointment at not getting to the count earlier, Ms Duffield said she had little time to digest her victory and get her emotions in check.
“I gave some rubbish speech as it was all so quick,” she said.
“I still felt exactly the same as I did in 2017, just like, ‘oh my gosh, I did it’.
“You can never count your chickens and with the national picture looking so grim, I kind of thought, ‘what’s the chances of being like the others’. So it was a shock when we won.” Mrs Firth, who arrived about an hour before the declaration, opted not to speak with the press until after the results.
Whether or not she was aware of the soon-to-be-announced outcome for the Tories, the former barrister wasn’t as chirpy as she had been for the past six weeks. Gracious in defeat, she congratulated her rival on the victory, saying “this has been a hard fight and given the wider picture, this is a tribute to Rosie herself”. Despite earning the biggest number of Conservative votes for 27 years, it still wasn’t enough to clinch back the seat from Labour.
In what must be a bitter pill to take following the non-stop campaigning and the fact she secured 45.2% of the votes, Mrs Firth realised there was nothing she more could have done to prevent coming up short.
“Students were out voting in force today, queuing for hours,” she said. “I don’t think we could have done any more. “While I’m obviously disappointed, I am delighted we are on the road to a Conservative government.”
It was always nailed on to be a two-horse race between Mrs Firth and Ms Duffield, but two other candidates were also in the fray.
Wearing a bold striped jacket, Independent candidate Michael Gould was the first to arrive on the night. Having previously called for a specialist “tramp unit” at the K&C Hospital, Mr Gould envisaged taxing charity shops and cutting back university spending. Supported by his partner on Thursday, he defended his decision to stand and ended the night having earned 505 votes.
“I entered this election to have my say and I have had my say,” he said in a short speech on stage.
The second candidate to arrive was actress Claire Malcomson, who had been controversially drafted in by the Lib Dems after original hopeful Tim Walker stood aside. Surrounded by a handful of party supporters throughout the night, Ms Malcomson - who was continually being briefed on what to say to the press - took time to take a swipe at the first-past-the-post voting system.
“So many votes are not being heard here,” she said. “This election is proving we need proportional representation.”
The party’s 5.7% share of the vote will no doubt be used against them come the next General Election, with their lacklustre performance at the last two now making the fight for the city truly a battle of only red versus blue. But for the next five years it’s red. Rosie red.