2008 London Assembly election

none April 2022 2008 London Assembly election parliamentary no United Kingdom yes 2004 London Assembly election 2004 2012 London Assembly election 2012 All 25 seats in the London Assembly13 seats needed for majority 1 May 2008 Constituency vote % and swing Party vote % and swing Richard Barnes (cropped).jpg 140 120 160 5 center Richard Barnes Richard Barnes Ealing and Hillingdon Conservative 0087DC 9 seats 11 2 900,569 37.4% 6.2% 835,535 34.1% 6.2% Len Duvall London assembly Lab.jpg 400 120 160 180 30 center Len Duvall Len Duvall Greenwich and Lewisham Labour DC241f 7 seats 8 1 673,855 28.0% 3.3% 665,443 27.1% 2.7% Mike Tuffrey.jpg 200 120 160 30 10 center Mike Tuffreyal Mike Tuffrey Additional member Liberal Democrats FAA61A 5 seats 3 2 330,018 13.7% 4.7% 252,556 11.2% 5.3% Jenny Jones.jpg 300 120 160 20 80 center Jenny Jones Jenny Jones Additional member Green 6AB023 2 seats 2 194,059 8.1% 0.4% 203,465 8.3% 0.3% Richard Barnbrook BNP at mayoral election3.jpg 250 120 160 5 75 center Richard Barnbrook Richard Barnbrook LondonwideNot an incumbent but stood for this region and won British National Party 0 seats 1 1 18,020 0.7% 0.7% 130,714 5.3% 0.6% 350px Vote plurality 350px Margins of victory An election to the London Assembly took place on 1 May 2008, along with the 2008 London mayoral election. The Conservatives gained 2 seats, Labour gained one seat, the Liberal Democrats lost two seats, and UKIP were wiped out. Notably, a candidate for the British National Party (BNP) was elected for the first time. The Assembly is elected by the Additional Member System. Fourteen directly elected constituencies exist, all of which, until 2024 were ever won by the Conservative Party or the Labour Party. An additional eleven members are allocated by a London wide top-up vote with the proviso that parties must win at least five percent of the vote to qualify for the list seats. Prior to these elections, these seats were held by five Liberal Democrats, two Labour Party members, two Green Party members and two One Londoners. The two One London members were elected as candidates for the UK Independence Party, but then joined or supported the breakaway Veritas party and subsequently left Veritas to form One London. Compared to the previous election, two separate factions of RESPECT Unity Coalition stood in 2008: Respect (George Galloway), who supported Ken Livingstone in the mayoral election, and Left List, who supported Lindsey German (RESPECT's mayoral candidate in 2004). Results center London Assembly election, 2008 |- !rowspan=3 colspan=2 | Parties !colspan=10 | Additional member system !rowspan=2 colspan=5 | Total seats |- !colspan=5 |Constituency !colspan=5 |Region |- ! Votes !! % !! +/− !! Seats !! +/− ! Votes !! % !! +/− !! Seats !! +/− ! Total !! +/− !! % |- Conservative Party (UK) 900,569 37.4 6.2 8 1 835,535 34.1 6.2 3 3 11 2 44.0 Labour Party (UK) 673,855 28.0 3.3 6 1 665,443 27.1 2.7 2 8 1 32.0 Liberal Democrats (UK) 330,018 13.7 4.7 0 252,556 11.2 5.3 3 2 3 2 12.0 Green Party of England and Wales 194,059 8.1 0.4 0 203,465 8.3 0.3 2 2 8.0 British National Party 18,020 0.7 New 0 130,714 5.3 0.6 1 1 1 1 4.0 |- ! style="background-color: #813887| | style="text-align:left;" |Christian Choice† | style="text-align:right;" | 65,357 | style="text-align:right;" | 2.7 | style="text-align:right;" | 0.3 | style="text-align:right;" | 0 | style="text-align:right;" | | style="text-align:right;" | 70,294 | style="text-align:right;" | 2.9 | style="text-align:right;" | ±0.0 | style="text-align:right;" | 0 | style="text-align:right;" | | style="text-align:right;" | 0 | style="text-align:right;" | | style="text-align:right;" | - |- Abolish the Congestion Charge - - - - - 63,596 2.6 New 0 0 - Respect Party 26,760 1.1 3.5 0 59,721 2.4 2.1 0 0 - UK Independence Party 71,984 3.0 7.0 0 46,617 1.9 6.3 0 2 0 2 - English Democrats Party 37,171 1.5 New 0 25,569 1.0 New 0 0 - Left List 33,438 1.4 New 0 22,583 0.9 New 0 0 - Unity for Peace and Socialism# - - - - - 6,394 0.3 New 0 0 - Rathy Alagaratnam - - - - - 3,974 0.2 N/A 0 0 - One London - - - - - 3,430 0.1 New 0 0 - National Front (UK) 34,840 1.4 New 0 - - - - - 0 - Independent (politician) 11,096 0.5 N/A 0 - - - - - 0 - Free England Party 2,908 0.2 New 0 - - - - - 0 - Animals Count 1,828 0.1 New 0 - - - - - 0 - Socialist Party of Great Britain 1,588 0.1 New 0 - - - - - 0 - Socialist Party (England and Wales) 1,587 0.1 New 0 - - - - - 0 - Communist League (UK, 1988) 701 0.0 New 0 - - - - - 0 - Veritas (political party) 510 0.0 New 0 - - - - - 0 - |- |   || Total || 2,406,289 || || || 14 ||   || 2,389,891 || ||   || 11 || || 25 ||   || |} † Joint-ticket Christian Party/Christian Peoples Alliance candidates standing as "Christian Choice" # Communist Party of Britain were listed on the ballot paper as "Unity for Peace and Socialism" Constituency Vote #ddd 600px 410px Conservative Conservative Party (UK) 37.4 Labour Labour Party (UK) 28.0 Liberal Democrats Liberal Democrats (UK) 13.7 Green Green Party of England and Wales 8.1 Others #777777 12.8 Regional Vote #ddd 600px 410px Conservative Conservative Party (UK) 34.1 Labour Labour Party (UK) 27.1 Liberal Democrats Liberal Democrats (UK) 11.2 Green Green Party of England and Wales 8.3 BNP British National Party 5.3 Others #777777 12.7 Assembly seats #ddd 600px 410px Conservative Conservative Party (UK) 44.0 Labour Labour Party (UK) 32.0 Liberal Democrats Liberal Democrats (UK) 12.0 Green Green Party of England and Wales 8.0 BNP British National Party 4.0 Total: 2,389,891 Overall turnout: 45.28% Analysis Labour gained Brent and Harrow from Conservative (which had been the only constituency seat changing hands in 2004, having then been gained from Labour). The other 13 constituencies remained unchanged, with the two Liberal Democrat challenges, in South West against the Conservatives, and Lambeth and Southwark against Labour, both showing swings against the Liberal Democrats. The Labour-Conservative marginal, with just 1.3% majority, of Enfield and Haringey was defended by Labour with only a tiny swing to the Conservatives. Thus the Labour campaign for the London Assembly was considerably more successful than their campaign in the local elections held on the same day.https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2008/may/02/london08.london1 London assembly results | Politics guardian.co.uk 2 May 2008 2012-04-19 thumb|Winning list members behind the returning officer The Liberal Democrat and UKIP vote shares were both very poor compared with 2004, with UKIP wiped out entirely, and the Liberal Democrats losing two members. The Labour vote share was up, but because of their capture of a FPTP seat, they did not gain any extra Additional Members against 2004. The biggest vote increase was for the Conservatives, achieving the highest ever showing of any party on the list, 34%; as a result and also due to their loss of one FPTP seat, they went from zero to three additional members. The Conservative record was subsequently surpassed by Labour in 2012 (41.1%) and 2016 (40.3%). The British National Party won their first seat on the Assembly by reaching the 5% threshold. London-wide list candidates 2008 London Assembly election: Additional members 2008-05-01 London Assembly: List candidates http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7377110.stm BBC News 2026-09-03 Conservative Party (UK) Andrew Boff, Victoria Borwick, Gareth Bacon, Edmond Yeo, Jane Archer, Kwasi Kwarteng, Ben Everitt, Andrew Stranack, Adrian Knowles 835,535 34.1 6.2 Labour Party (UK) Nicky Gavron, Murad Qureshi, John Biggs, Len Duvall, Jennette Arnold, Val Shawcross, Joanne McCartney, Navin Shah, Ranjit Dheer, Balvinder Saund, Leonie Cooper, Ansuya Sodha, Shafi Khan, Alex Heslop 665,443 27.1 2.7 Liberal Democrats (UK) Michael Tuffrey, Dee Doocey, Caroline Pidgeon, Jeremy Ambache, Geoff Pope, Benjamin Abbotts, Stephen Knight, Shas Sheehan, Duncan Borrowman, Monica Whyte, Merlene Emerson 252,556 11.2 5.3 Green Party of England and Wales Jenny Jones, Darren Johnson, Noel Lynch, Siân Berry, Shane Collins, Laura Davenport, Shahrar Ali, Yen Chit Chong, Miranda Dunn, Adrian Oliver, Jon Nott 203,465 8.3 5.3 British National Party Richard Barnbrook, Robert Bailey, Julian Leppert, Roberta Woods, Dennis Pearce, Christopher Forster, Jeffrey Marshall, Clifford Le May, Lawrence Rustem, John Clarke 130,714 5.3 0.6 Christian Choice Alan Craig, Paula Warren, David Campanale, Geoffrey Macharia, Stephen Hammond, Maxine Hargreaves, Sue May, Segun Johnson, Tom Conquest, Zena Sherman, Peter Vickers 70,294 2.9 ±0.0 Abolish the Congestion Charge Chris Prior 63,596 2.6 New Respect Party George Galloway, Linda Smith, Abdul Sheikh, Zakaria Abdi, Sabia Kamali, Abdurahman Jafar, Carole Swords, Hanif Abdulmuhit, John Mulrenan, Mohammed Rashid, Margot Lindsay, Anthony Collins 59,721 2.4 2.1 UK Independence Party Lawrence Webb, Kathleen Garner, Michael McGough, Ralph Atkinson, Jens Winton, Arnold Tarling, Peter Dul, John Bailey, Mick Greenhough, Jonathan Serter, Magnus Nielsen, Sunita Webb, Lynnda Robson 46,617 1.9 6.3 English Democrats Roger Cooper, Steven Uncles, Leo Brookes, Sati Chaggar, Janus Polenceus, Arvind Tailor, Teresa Cannon, Johanna Munilla, Richard Castle, David Stevens, Carol White, John Dodds, Alex Vaughan, Ursula Polenceus, Kathie Broughton, John Griffiths, Liz Painter, Paul Szatmari, James Ware, Steve Scott, Nichole Vaughan, Peter Tate, Matt O'Connor 25,569 1.0 New Left List Lindsey German, Oliur Rahman, Rania Khan, Carole Vincent, Salvinder Dhillon, Sait Akgul, Elaine Graham-Leigh, Kumar Murshid, Glyn Robbins, Berlyne Hamilton, Katt Young, Paul Fredericks, Pat McManus, Tansy Hoskins, Mukul Hira, Pat Stack, Sultana Begum, Mujgan Kazeroonian 22,583 0.9 New Communist Party of Britain Christiane Ohsan, Pauline Fraser, Avtar Uppal, Ivan Beavis, Mohammed Khan, Jean Turner, Sarwan Singh, Harunor Rashid, Monty Goldman, Peter Latham, Philip Brand, Charlie May, Eleni Geropanagioti 6,394 0.3 New Independent politician Rathy Alagaratnam 3,974 0.2 New One London Damian Hockney, Peter Hulme-Cross, Robert Hough, Helena Nelson, Martin Rutter 3,430 0.1 New London Assembly representation PartySeatsLoss/Gain Conservative Party (UK) 11 +2 Labour Party (UK) 8 +1 Liberal Democrats (UK) 3 –2 Green Party of England and Wales 2 0 British National Party 1 +1 United Kingdom Independence Party 0 [†] –2 Total25 [†] Both UKIP Assembly members had subsequently defected and formed the new One London party. New members Gareth Bacon (Conservative Party, London list) Richard Barnbrook (British National Party (subsequently expelled from party), London list) Andrew Boff (Conservative Party, London list) Victoria Borwick (Conservative Party, London list) James Cleverly (Conservative Party, Bexley and Bromley) Kit Malthouse (Conservative Party, West Central) Steve O'Connell (Conservative Party, Croydon and Sutton) Caroline Pidgeon (Liberal Democrats, London list) Navin Shah (Labour Party, Brent and Harrow) Richard Tracey (Conservative Party, Merton and Wandsworth) Defeated members Bob Blackman (Conservative Party, Brent and Harrow) Damian Hockney (One London, London list) Peter Hulme-Cross (One London, London list) Geoff Pope (Liberal Democrats, London list) Retiring members Angie Bray (Conservative Party, West Central) Sally Hamwee (Liberal Democrats, London list) Elizabeth Howlett (Conservative Party, Merton and Wandsworth) Bob Neill (Conservative Party, Bexley and Bromley) Andrew Pelling (Conservative Party, Croydon and Sutton) Graham Tope (Liberal Democrats, London list) References lower-alpha See also 2008 London mayoral election 2008 United Kingdom local elections Greater London Authority Mayor of London London Assembly Category:2008 elections in the United Kingdom Assembly election 2008 Category:May 2008 in the United Kingdom