Liberal Democrats make leisure centre a triple yellow celebration

The Liberal Democrats celebrated three constituency wins at an Abingdon leisure centre.

Layla Moran held the Oxford West and Abingdon seat and significantly increased her majority.

Fellow Lib Dem Frederick Van Mierlo won the Henley and Thame seat from the Conservatives, and Lib Dem Olly Glover also beat the Conservatives in Didcot and Wantage. Tory David Johnston lost his seat.

Ms Moran polled 23,414 votes significantly increasing her majority.

She said it was "an amazing result", and added: "We have taken real pride in giving back to people in their time of need and taking up the issues that really matter to them."

Since becoming constituency MP in 2017, Ms Moran has dealt with thousands of cases on behalf of people living in local communities.

(Image: Andy Ffrench) She added: "I hope I am building a reputation in the community as someone who helps people.

"A lot of my campaigns in Parliament stem from people who come to see me - homelessness legislation, putting infrastructure in place such as the new slip roads at Lodge Hill for the Abingdon North junction - that's the focus of my work in Parliament."

Ms Moran said she was hopeful for a hat-trick of victories at the leisure centre and she was proved right.

"People are absolutely fed up with the Tories - but these wins do follow a five-year shift in council seats."

Conservative candidate Vinay Raniga, who polled 8,520 votes, said it was time to rebuild and "have a strong, compassionate moderate party".

He said there had been "amazing support" from party workers, adding: "We had so many people knocking on doors and talking about policy".

Green Party candidate Chris Goodall praised Layla Moran as "a good MP", adding: "Layla has done a good job and is an effective local MP but we are saying the Lib Dems are not as green as they could be".

He added: "Regarding the plans for the solar farm at Botley West, Layla has come out against it but we disagree - it is a very important infrastructure project that the country needs.

"The green future is not going to be pain-free.

"The solar farm will cover a huge area and that is why Layla has come out against it.

(Image: Andy Ffrench) "We have persuaded the developer to allocate some of the land to community agriculture."

Reform UK candidate James Gunn said he had received a good reception on the doorstep.

He added: "People like the policies - they are all very clear and very sensible and represent a coherent approach to Britain's problems."

The results were:

Anni Byard Social Democratic Party - 259

Chris Goodall Green Party - 3,236

James Gunn Reform UK - 4,164

Layla Moran Liberal Democrats - 23,414

Josh Phillips Independent - 168

Vinay Raniga - Conservative - 8,520

Ian Shelley Christian Peoples Alliance - 256

Stephen Webb Labour - 5,891.

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About the author 

Andy is the Trade and Tourism reporter for the Oxford Mail and you can sign up to his newsletters for free here. 

He joined the team more than 20 years ago and he covers community news across Oxfordshire.

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