2008 London Assembly election

{{Infobox election

| election_name = 2008 London Assembly election

| country =

| type = parliamentary

| ongoing = no

| party_colour = yes

| previous_election = 2004 London Assembly election

| previous_year = 2004

| next_election = 2012 London Assembly election

| next_year = 2012

| seats_for_election = 25 London Assembly Seats
13 seats needed for majority

| election_date = 1 May 2008

| 1blank = Constituency Vote

| 2blank = % and swing

| 3blank = Regional Vote

| 4blank = % and swing

| image1 = {{CSS image crop

|Image = Richard Barnes (cropped).jpg

|bSize = 140

|cWidth = 120

|cHeight = 160

|oLeft = 5

|Location = center

|Alt = Richard Barnes

}}

| leader1 = Richard Barnes

| leaders_seat1 = Ealing and Hillingdon

| party1 = Conservative

| colour1 = 0087DC

| last_election1 = 9 seats

| seats1 = 11

| seat_change1 = {{increase}}2

| popular_vote1 =

| percentage1 =

| swing1 =

| 1data1 = 900,569

| 2data1 = 37.4% {{increase}}6.2%

| 3data1 = 835,535

| 4data1 = 34.1% {{increase}}6.2%

| image2 = {{CSS image crop

|Image = Len Duvall London assembly Lab.jpg

|bSize = 400

|cWidth = 120

|cHeight = 160

|oLeft = 180

|oTop = 30

|Location = center

|Alt = Len Duvall

}}

| leader2 = Len Duvall

| leaders_seat2 = Greenwich and Lewisham

| party2 = Labour

| colour2 = DC241f

| last_election2 = 7 seats

| seats2 = 8

| seat_change2 = {{increase}}1

| popular_vote2 =

| percentage2 =

| swing2 =

| 1data2 = 673,855

| 2data2 = 28.0% {{increase}}3.3%

| 3data2 = 665,443

| 4data2 = 27.1% {{increase}}2.7%

| image4 = {{CSS image crop

|Image = Mike Tuffrey.jpg

|bSize = 200

|cWidth = 120

|cHeight = 160

|oLeft = 30

|oTop = 10

|Location = center

|Alt = Mike Tuffrey

}}

| leader4 = Mike Tuffrey

| leaders_seat4 = Londonwide

| party4 = Liberal Democrats

| color4 = FAA61A

| last_election4 = 5 seats

| seats4 = 3

| seat_change4 = {{decrease}}2

| popular_vote4 =

| percentage4 =

| swing4 =

| 1data4 = 330,018

| 2data4 = 13.7% {{decrease}}4.7%

| 3data4 = 252,556

| 4data4 = 11.2% {{decrease}}5.3%

| image5 = {{CSS image crop

|Image = Jenny Jones.jpg

|bSize = 300

|cWidth = 120

|cHeight = 160

|oTop = 20

|oLeft = 80

|Location = center

|Alt = Jenny Jones

}}

| leader5 = Jenny Jones

| leaders_seat5 = Londonwide

| party5 = Green

| color5 = 6AB023

| last_election5 = 2 seats

| seats5 = 2

| seat_change5 = {{nochange}}

| popular_vote5 =

| percentage5 =

| swing5 =

| 1data5 = 194,059

| 2data5 = 8.1% {{increase}}0.4%

| 3data5 = 203,465

| 4data5 = 8.3% {{decrease}}0.3%

| image7 = {{CSS image crop

|Image = Richard Barnbrook BNP at mayoral election3.jpg

|bSize = 250

|cWidth = 120

|cHeight = 160

|oTop = 5

|oLeft = 75

|Location = center

|Alt = Richard Barnbrook

}}

| leader7 = Richard Barnbrook

| leaders_seat7 = Londonwide

| party7 = British National Party

| last_election7 = 0 seats

| seats7 = 1

| seat_change7 = {{increase}}1

| popular_vote7 =

| percentage7 =

| swing7 =

| 1data7 = 18,020

| 2data7 = 0.7% {{increase}}0.7%

| 3data7 = 130,714

| 4data7 = 5.3% {{increase}}0.6%

| map = {{switcher

| 350px

| Vote plurality

| 350px

| Margins of victory}}

}}

An election to the Assembly of London 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

|-

!rowspan=3 colspan=2 | Parties

!colspan=10 | Additional member system

!rowspan=2 colspan=5 | Total seats

|-

!colspan=5 |Constituency

!colspan=5 |Region

|-

! Votes !! % !! +/− !! Seats !! +/−

! Total !! +/− !! %

|-

{{AMS Election Summary Party|

|party = Conservative Party (UK)

|votes = 900,569

|votes % = 37.4

|votes net = {{increase}}6.2

|seats = 8

|seats net = {{decrease}}1

|AMS votes = 835,535

|AMS votes % = 34.1

|AMS votes net = {{increase}}6.2

|AMS seats = 3

|AMS seats net = {{increase}}3

|Seats total = 11

|Seats net = {{increase}}2

|Seats % = 44.0

}}

{{AMS Election Summary Party|

|party = Labour Party (UK)

|votes = 673,855

|votes % = 28.0

|votes net = {{increase}}3.3

|seats = 6

|seats net = {{increase}}1

|AMS votes = 665,443

|AMS votes % = 27.1

|AMS votes net = {{increase}}2.7

|AMS seats = 2

|AMS seats net = {{nochange}}

|Seats total = 8

|Seats net = {{increase}}1

|Seats % = 32.0

}}

{{AMS Election Summary Party|

|party = Liberal Democrats (UK)

|votes = 330,018

|votes % = 13.7

|votes net = {{decrease}}4.7

|seats = 0

|seats net = {{nochange}}

|AMS votes = 252,556

|AMS votes % = 11.2

|AMS votes net = {{decrease}}5.3

|AMS seats = 3

|AMS seats net = {{decrease}}2

|Seats total = 3

|Seats net = {{decrease}}2

|Seats % = 12.0

}}

{{AMS Election Summary Party|

|party = Green Party of England and Wales

|votes = 194,059

|votes % = 8.1

|votes net = {{increase}}0.4

|seats = 0

|seats net = {{nochange}}

|AMS votes = 203,465

|AMS votes % = 8.3

|AMS votes net = {{decrease}}0.3

|AMS seats = 2

|AMS seats net = {{nochange}}

|Seats total = 2

|Seats net = {{nochange}}

|Seats % = 8.0

}}

{{AMS Election Summary Party|

|party = British National Party

|votes = 18,020

|votes % = 0.7

|votes net = New

|seats = 0

|seats net = {{nochange}}

|AMS votes = 130,714

|AMS votes % = 5.3

|AMS votes net = {{increase}}0.6

|AMS seats = 1

|AMS seats net = {{increase}}1

|Seats total = 1

|Seats net = {{increase}}1

|Seats % = 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;" | {{increase}}0.3

| style="text-align:right;" | 0

| style="text-align:right;" | {{nochange}}

| 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;" | {{nochange}}

| style="text-align:right;" | 0

| style="text-align:right;" | {{nochange}}

| style="text-align:right;" | -

|-

{{AMS Election Summary|

|party = Abolish the
Congestion Charge

|votes = -

|votes % = -

|votes net = -

|seats = -

|seats net = -

|AMS votes = 63,596

|AMS votes % = 2.6

|AMS votes net = New

|AMS seats = 0

|AMS seats net = {{nochange}}

|Seats total = 0

|Seats net = {{nochange}}

|Seats % = -

}}

{{AMS Election Summary Party|

|party = Respect Party

|votes = 26,760

|votes % = 1.1

|votes net = {{decrease}}3.5

|seats = 0

|seats net = {{nochange}}

|AMS votes = 59,721

|AMS votes % = 2.4

|AMS votes net = {{decrease}}2.1

|AMS seats = 0

|AMS seats net = {{nochange}}

|Seats total =0

|Seats net = {{nochange}}

|Seats % = -

}}

{{AMS Election Summary Party|

|party = UK Independence Party

|votes = 71,984

|votes % = 3.0

|votes net = {{decrease}}7.0

|seats = 0

|seats net = {{nochange}}

|AMS votes = 46,617

|AMS votes % = 1.9

|AMS votes net = {{decrease}}6.3

|AMS seats = 0

|AMS seats net = {{decrease}}2

|Seats total = 0

|Seats net = {{decrease}}2

|Seats % = -

}}

{{AMS Election Summary Party|

|party = English Democrats Party

|votes = 37,171

|votes % = 1.5

|votes net = New

|seats = 0

|seats net = {{nochange}}

|AMS votes = 25,569

|AMS votes % = 1.0

|AMS votes net = New

|AMS seats = 0

|AMS seats net = {{nochange}}

|Seats total =0

|Seats net = {{nochange}}

|Seats % = -

}}

{{AMS Election Summary Party|

|party = Left List

|votes = 33,438

|votes % = 1.4

|votes net = New

|seats = 0

|seats net = {{nochange}}

|AMS votes = 22,583

|AMS votes % = 0.9

|AMS votes net = New

|AMS seats = 0

|AMS seats net = {{nochange}}

|Seats total =0

|Seats net = {{nochange}}

|Seats % = -

}}

{{AMS Election Summary |

|party = Unity for Peace
and Socialism^#

|votes = -

|votes % = -

|votes net = -

|seats = -

|seats net = -

|AMS votes = 6,394

|AMS votes % = 0.3

|AMS votes net = New

|AMS seats = 0

|AMS seats net = {{nochange}}

|Seats total = 0

|Seats net = {{nochange}}

|Seats % = -

}}

{{AMS Election Summary|

|party = Rathy Alagaratnam

|votes = -

|votes % =-

|votes net = -

|seats = -

|seats net = -

|AMS votes = 3,974

|AMS votes % = 0.2

|AMS votes net = N/A

|AMS seats = 0

|AMS seats net = {{nochange}}

|Seats total =0

|Seats net = {{nochange}}

|Seats % =-

}}

{{AMS Election Summary Party|

|party = One London

|votes =-

|votes % =-

|votes net = -

|seats = -

|seats net = -

|AMS votes = 3,430

|AMS votes % = 0.1

|AMS votes net = New

|AMS seats = 0

|AMS seats net = {{nochange}}

|Seats total =0

|Seats net = {{nochange}}

|Seats % =-

}}

{{AMS Election Summary Party|

|party = National Front (UK)

|votes = 34,840

|votes % = 1.4

|votes net = New

|seats = 0

|seats net = {{nochange}}

|AMS votes = -

|AMS votes % =-

|AMS votes net =-

|AMS seats = -

|AMS seats net = -

|Seats total = 0

|Seats net = {{nochange}}

|Seats % =-

}}

{{AMS Election Summary Party|

|party = Independent (politician)

|votes = 11,096

|votes % = 0.5

|votes net = N/A

|seats = 0

|seats net = {{nochange}}

|AMS votes = -

|AMS votes % =-

|AMS votes net =-

|AMS seats = -

|AMS seats net = -

|Seats total = 0

|Seats net = {{nochange}}

|Seats % =-

}}

{{AMS Election Summary Party|

|party = Free England Party

|votes = 2,908

|votes % = 0.2

|votes net = New

|seats = 0

|seats net = {{nochange}}

|AMS votes = -

|AMS votes % =-

|AMS votes net =-

|AMS seats = -

|AMS seats net = -

|Seats total = 0

|Seats net = {{nochange}}

|Seats % =-

}}

{{AMS Election Summary Party|

|party = Animals Count

|votes = 1,828

|votes % = 0.1

|votes net = New

|seats = 0

|seats net = {{nochange}}

|AMS votes = -

|AMS votes % =-

|AMS votes net =-

|AMS seats = -

|AMS seats net = -

|Seats total = 0

|Seats net = {{nochange}}

|Seats % =-

}}

{{AMS Election Summary Party|

|party = Socialist Party of Great Britain

|votes = 1,588

|votes % = 0.1

|votes net = New

|seats = 0

|seats net = {{nochange}}

|AMS votes = -

|AMS votes % =-

|AMS votes net =-

|AMS seats = -

|AMS seats net = -

|Seats total = 0

|Seats net = {{nochange}}

|Seats % =-

}}

{{AMS Election Summary Party|

|party = Socialist Party (England and Wales)

|votes = 1,587

|votes % = 0.1

|votes net = New

|seats = 0

|seats net = {{nochange}}

|AMS votes = -

|AMS votes % =-

|AMS votes net =-

|AMS seats = -

|AMS seats net = -

|Seats total = 0

|Seats net = {{nochange}}

|Seats % =-

}}

{{AMS Election Summary Party|

|party = Communist League (UK, 1988)

|votes = 701

|votes % = 0.0

|votes net = New

|seats = 0

|seats net = {{nochange}}

|AMS votes =-

|AMS votes % =-

|AMS votes net =-

|AMS seats = -

|AMS seats net = -

|Seats total = 0

|Seats net = {{nochange}}

|Seats % =-

}}

{{AMS Election Summary Party|

|party = Veritas (political party)

|votes = 510

|votes % = 0.0

|votes net = New

|seats = 0

|seats net = {{nochange}}

|AMS votes = -

|AMS votes % =-

|AMS votes net =-

|AMS seats = -

|AMS seats net = -

|Seats total = 0

|Seats net = {{nochange}}

|Seats % =-

}}

|-

| || 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"

{{bar box

| title=Constituency Vote

| titlebar=#ddd

| width=600px

| barwidth=410px

| bars=

{{bar percent|Conservative|{{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}|37.4}}

{{bar percent|Labour|{{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}|28.0}}

{{bar percent|Liberal Democrats|{{party color|Liberal Democrats (UK)}}|13.7}}

{{bar percent|Green|{{party color|Green Party of England and Wales}}|8.1}}

}}

{{bar box

| title=Regional Vote

| titlebar=#ddd

| width=600px

| barwidth=410px

| bars=

{{bar percent|Conservative|{{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}|34.1}}

{{bar percent|Labour|{{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}|27.1}}

{{bar percent|Liberal Democrats|{{party color|Liberal Democrats (UK)}}|11.2}}

{{bar percent|Green|{{party color|Green Party of England and Wales}}|8.3}}

{{bar percent|BNP|{{party color|British National Party}}|5.3}}

}}

{{bar box

| title=Assembly seats

| titlebar=#ddd

| width=600px

| barwidth=410px

| bars=

{{bar percent|Conservative|{{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}|44.0}}

{{bar percent|Labour|{{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}|32.0}}

{{bar percent|Liberal Democrats|{{party color|Liberal Democrats (UK)}}|12.0}}

{{bar percent|Green|{{party color|Green Party of England and Wales}}|8.0}}

{{bar percent|BNP|{{party color|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.{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2008/may/02/london08.london1 |title=London assembly results | Politics |publisher=guardian.co.uk |date= 2 May 2008|access-date=2012-04-19}}

Image:Assembly candidates winning London list 08.jpg

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

\|\| style="width:15%;"\| Name \|\| style="width:15%;"\| Candidates Elected to Assembly \|\| Not Elected
class="wikitable" style="margin: 1em auto 1em auto" ! colspan="9" \| London Assembly Election 2008 — London-wide lists
{{party color cell\| Independent}}	Abolish the Congestion Charge		Chris Prior
{{party color cell\| British National Party}}	British National Party	Richard Barnbrook	Robert Bailey, Julian Leppert, Roberta Woods, Dennis Pearce, Christopher Forster, Jeffrey Marshall, Clifford Le May, Lawrence Rustem, John Clarke
{{party color cell\| Christian Peoples Alliance}}	The Christian Choice		Alan Craig, Paula Warren, David Campanale, Geoffrey Macharia, Stephen Hammond, Maxine Hargreaves, Sue May, Segun Johnson, Tom Conquest, Zena Sherman, Peter Vickers
{{party color cell\| Conservative Party (UK)}}	Conservative Party	Andrew Boff, Victoria Borwick, Gareth Bacon	Edmond Yeo, Jane Archer, Kwasi Kwarteng, Benjamin Everitt, Andrew Stranack, Adrian Knowles
{{party color cell\| English Democrats Party}}	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
{{party color cell\| Green Party of England and Wales}}	Green Party	Jenny Jones, Darren Johnson	Noel Lynch, Siân Berry, Shane Collins, Laura Davenport, Shahrar Ali, Yen Chit Chong, Miranda Dunn, Adrian Oliver, Jon Nott
{{party color cell\| Labour Party (UK)}}	Labour Party	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
{{party color cell\| Left List}}	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
{{party color cell\| Liberal Democrats (UK)}}	Liberal Democrats	Michael Tuffrey, Dee Doocey, Caroline Pidgeon	Jeremy Ambache, Geoffrey Pope, Benjamin Abbotts, Stephen Knight, Shas Sheehan, Duncan Borrowman, Monica Whyte, Merlene Emerson
{{party color cell\| One London}}	One London		Damian Hockney, Peter Hulme Cross, Robert Hough, Helena Nelson, Martin Rutter
{{party color cell\| RESPECT The Unity Coalition}}	Respect (George Galloway)		George Galloway, Linda Smith, Abdul Sheikh, Zakaria Abdi, Sabia Kamali, Abdurahman Jafar, Carole Swords, Hanif Abdulmuhit, John Mulrenan, Mohammed Rashid, Margot Lindsay, Anthony Collins
{{party color cell\| United Kingdom Independence Party}}	UKIP		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
{{party color cell\| Communist Party of Britain}}	Unity for Peace & Socialism		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
{{party color cell\| Independent}}	Rathy Alagaratnam (Independent)		Rathy Alagaratnam

London Assembly representation

class="wikitable" style="text-align:right"
colspan=2\|Party !Seats !Loss/Gain
{{Party name with colour\|Conservative Party (UK)}} \| 11 \| +2
{{Party name with colour\|Labour Party (UK)}} \| 8 \| +1
{{Party name with colour\|Liberal Democrats (UK)}} \| 3 \| –2
{{Party name with colour\|Green Party of England and Wales}} \| 2 \| 0
{{Party name with colour\|British National Party}} \| 1 \| +1
{{Party name with colour\|United Kingdom Independence Party}} \| 0 \| [†] –2
style="background:#efefef;" \| colspan="2" style="text-align:center;"\|Total \|25 \|

class="wikitable" style="text-align:right"

colspan=2|Party

!Seats

!Loss/Gain

| 11

| +2

| 8

| +1

| 3

| –2

| 2

| 0

| 1

| +1

| 0

| [†] –2

style="background:#efefef;"

| colspan="2" style="text-align:center;"|Total

|25

|

[†] 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)

2008 London Assembly election

Results

Analysis

London-wide list candidates

London Assembly representation

=New members=

=Defeated members=

=Retiring members=

References

See also