Given the recent County Council election results, which saw the Lib-Dems winning all three seats in Abingdon, the victory of Lib Dem candidate Layla Moran last night was not completely unexpected. BBC South Today showed that while most of the region is now Conservative blue, Oxford East remains Labour red, and Oxford West and Abingdon has turned Lib-Dem orange, and now has Layla Moran as MP.

Nicola Blackwood has worked hard as MP and very much hoped to continue as she showed in her passionate end of hustings speech on Monday. However this constituency can switch sides, as it did suprisingly to Nicola in 2010 when she beat Dr Evan Harris by 176 votes on a turnout of 65.3%.
In 2015 she got a larger majority of 9,582, beating Layla Moran, as the Lib-Dems suffered after being in coalition with the Conservatives. This time round Layla Moran got 26,252 votes, and won the seat by 816. There was a record turnout for the constituency of 79.6%.

The polls have closed after the snap election called by Theresa May. She wanted to increase her majority ahead of Brexit negotiations, and called it at a time when she was a long way ahead in the polls.

Outside the hustings on Monday, members of the Hunt Saboteurs were protesting. Theresa May pledged a free vote on repealing the ban on fox hunting in the Conservative manifesto.

As mentioned yesterday the Greens formed a nuanced ‘progressive alliance’ with the Lib Dems in this area, and there was the unusual sight of Green and Lib-Dem posters in the same gardens, and windows.

Outside polling stations Conservative and Lib-Dem tellers took down polling numbers.

The parties seem to be using the phone more than door to door these days. But the pile of literature in our letter tray was as big as usual. It even included two letters from 10 Downing Street asking us to trust Theresa May with the Brexit negotiations.

There was an out of reach poster of Nicola Blackwood outside the Conservative Club. Lib-Dem posters outnumbered Conservative here in Abingdon. I did not see a single UKIP poster. I liked the Labour’s simple “I’m Voting Labour”, and was impressed by their candidate – the only candidate I met during the campaign.

We went to the polling station at the Guildhall at about 6:30. There was a steady flow of people but no queue. Other people on twitter reported queues elsewhere. We now await the result with interest.

On the morning of April 18th, when the election was announced, I happened to be passing Abingdon Street and saw the odds on a party getting the most seats were:
Con 1/10
Lab 6/1
Lib Dem 25/1

On the eve of the election, passing the local betting station, I see that the odds for getting most seats are now:
Con 1/20
Lab 8/1
Lib Dem 500/1

Here in Oxford and West and Abingdon, on Paddy Power, the odds on the 4 parties winning are
Con 1/5
Lib Dem 11/4
Lab 100/1
UKIP 200/1

The Green Candidate decided to stand down at this election as some greens will be lending their vote to the Lib Dems.

There was a minute’s silence at the start of the hustings for the victims of the terror attacks in Manchester and London.

The three candidates to become the next MP for Oxford West and Abingdon were Nicola Blackwood (Conservative), Marie Tidball (Labour), Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat). The event was at the Amey Theatre, part of Abingdon School, and was organised by The Church in Abingdon, and Abingdon-on-Thames Chamber of Commerce. Chris Bryan, Chairman of The Abingon Bridge Charity, chaired the meeting.

Alan Harris (UKIP) could not make it.

Candidates answered questions on Education, Brexit, and the NHS, during the first hour. There followed questions on local issues in the last half hour. These were: regenerating the town centre, house building, and local control of planning.

The current MP, Nicola Blackwood said improvements have been made in the precinct and Abbey Meadows, but that the Charter and the Guildhall still need more work. She said that footfall is not increasing enough. On Drayton Road traffic, and the Lodge Hill interchange on the A34 she said that although she had been let down on the guarantee given at the last election 2 years ago, there was now a new cast iron guarantee it would get funding. She also had something to say about the local BID (Business Improvement District). Nicola said “The BID is not working as well as it should. It should have made a real difference. But is is not doing what it was sold as.” There is a meeting of the BID tomorrow evening where local businesses will have their say about its performance after the first year.

Marie Tidball said Labour would provide better infrastructure in the way of roads and buses to allow people to get to local towns like Abingdon. She lamented that under the Conservatives subsidised bus routes have gone. Labour would also support small and medium businesses with an investment bank, and give help to small and medium businesses when they increase Corporation Tax generally.

Layla Moran would also look to increase footfall by making it easier to get to town on public transport, and give cycling a higher priority. She said there was a need for spending more of local business rates locally. She would also like to encourage more town centre events.