Political

Lib Dem London Assembly list selection result

To go with Caroline Pidgeon’s selection as the Lib Dem London Mayor candidate, here are the results out today of the list candidate selections, in order:

  1. Caroline Pidgeon (incumbent)
  2. Emily Davey
  3. Merlene Emerson (elevated from 5th to 3rd due to ethnic diversity rules*)
  4. Rob Blackie
  5. Stephen Knight (incumbent)
  6. Zack Polanski
  7. Duwayne Brooks (subsequently withdrew)
  8. Dawn Barnes
  9. Annabel Mullin
  10. Marisha Ray
  11. Adrian Hyyrylainen-Trett
  12. Ben Mathis
  13. Pauline Pearce
  14. Teena Lashmore
  15. Brian Haley
  16. Mark Platt

Number of eligible voters: 9,462
Total number of votes cast: 3,755
Turnout: 39.7%

With two existing London Assembly members, the odds of Merlene being elected are far from certain but well above zero, giving the party a real chance of a non-all white GLA group for the first time ever. With the Lib Dem MPs and MEPs in London all also having all been white, this would be a major breakthrough for the party’s efforts to improve its diversity.

The reaction of Rob Blackie, by the way, has been characteristically generous. Although the rules on BAME diversity mean he was moved down a slot, to a possible but less likely place on the list, he’s stuck to his long-term support for measures to boost BAME diversity and welcomed the outcome.

The slipping of incumbent GLA member Stephen Knight from second last time to fifth this time is an unusual one for an incumbent in a Lib Dem list (re)selection.

* This link also explains the absence of gender diversity rules this time round.

UPDATE

The full election vote details are available in this zip file. For the list, a series of counts for a decreasing number of places was conducted to establish which order people are in the results. That is because one standard STV count would not have given an ordered list.

UPDATE 2

Duwayne Brooks subsequently pulled out, so the final list of Lib Dem candidates for the GLA list is:

  1. Caroline Pidgeon (incumbent)
  2. Emily Davey
  3. Merlene Emerson
  4. Rob Blackie
  5. Stephen Knight (incumbent)
  6. Zack Polanski
  7. Dawn Barnes
  8. Annabel Mullin
  9. Marisha Ray
  10. Adrian Hyyrylainen-Trett
  11. Pauline Pearce

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