Justine Greening has won Putney for the Tories. The south London constituency was held by the former Heritage Secretary, David Mellor, until 1997, when the Referendum party helped Labour take the seat.
Update Matthew Tempest (earlier posts here) reports from the count:
12.20am Ok, with Putney apparently about to declare in about ten minutes time, the Tory candidate Justine Greening has just arrived, and her party workers are looking nervous, but quietly confident. Ms Greening herself, Rotherham-born but campaigning largely on police numbers and improvements to the District Line, looks completely shattered and a bit overawed – but then she could be ten minutes away from becoming an MP. Having had several more conversations with various apparatchiks from both the main parties in both counts, I'm calling it as a Tory gain in Putney, knocking out Mr Coleman, and a Labour retain in Battersea, with Mr Linton holding on by the skin of his teeth.
Time will tell – not long now…
12.35 Tories gain Putney!
Mr Colman polls 13,731, but as soon as Ms Greening's tally of 15-thousand something is read out, the Tory cheers drown out the rest of her number.
Ms Greening has a majority of 1,766 and tells the audience "Putney has turned a new page and started a new chapter." Although she pays perfunctory tribute to Mr Colman, she adds "People will no longer tolerate a Labour government that raises taxes without improving public services." A Labour activist beside me is in tears, although this was of course a Tory seat until 1997, under David Mellor.
Mr Colman calls Putney an "atypical seat" and adds that in the words of the Chelsea coach "the best team lost."
