General election 2024: Conservatives hold two Bromley constituencies but lose new seat to Labour

By Joe Coughlan, Local Democracy Reporter

The Conservative Party has held on to two of the three constituencies in Bromley despite its dramatic national loss.

Conservative candidate Peter Fortune has been elected to represent Bromley and Biggin Hill, retaining the Tory stronghold in the constituency.

The candidate received 15,929 votes, beating Labour’s Oana Olaru-Holmes by a slim 302 votes. Reform UK’s Alan Cook followed in third place, with Julie Ireland of the Lib Dems coming in fourth.

Mr Fortune said: “Unquestionably it’s been a difficult night for the Conservative Party, so we’re going to take some time, we’re going to reflect. I can hear phones pinging all over the place as people have got opinions.”

Bromley and Biggin Hill is a new seat in this year’s general election, consisting of Bromley council wards Bickley and Sundridge, Biggin Hill, Bromley Common and Holwood, Bromley Town, Darwin, Hayes and Coney Hall, Plaistow and Shortlands and Park Langley.

Labour’s Liam Conlon has been elected to represent Beckenham and Penge, with the party staking its claim in the newly-formed seat.

The Labour MP said in his acceptance speech that he was “proud” to be one of the few disabled MPs represented in Parliament.

The candidate received a total of 25,753 votes, defeating Hannah Gray of the Conservatives by 12,905 votes. Edward Apostolides, of Reform UK, followed in third place, with the Lib Dems’ Chloe-Jane Ross coming in fourth.

Mr Conlon, who suffered an accident as a teenager requiring him to use a wheelchair, said: “My disability has shaped my understanding of Labour and politics more generally, more than anything else.

“Economic exclusion and social exclusion of disabled people in Beckenham and Penge and across the country is far, far too high and it’s getting worse.”

Beckenham and Penge represents a new constituency in this year’s election, having been derived from the former Beckenham ward, as well as the Lewisham West and Penge constituency.

Mr Conlon said: “It’s been 80 years of Conservative MPs for Beckenham, so we knew this was going to be a huge challenge.”

The Conservative Party’s Gareth Bacon has been elected as MP for Orpington, following a trend which has seen the area being represented by the Tory Party for more than 50 years. The result represents the MP’s second consecutive term in the role.

The candidate beat Labour’s Ju Owens by 5,118 votes. Mark Bradley James, representing Reform UK, followed in third place, with Graeme Casey of the Liberal Democrats coming in fourth.

Mr Bacon said: “We got ourselves through the Covid pandemic and the early stages of the war in Ukraine and slippage in opinion polls caused, I think, some of my colleagues to react very badly. That led to deep and public divisions, and divided parties don’t win elections.”

Pictured top: The candidates for Beckenham and Penge in the 2024 General Election (Picture: Joe Coughlan)