Conservatives riled up after 6,500 votes missed from general election declaration
A council missed more than 6,500 votes from the declaration of the general election result in one constituency due to a “spreadsheet issue”.
Wandsworth Conservatives have hit out at the Labour-run council, demanding an explanation after spotting the results had been quietly changed on the website on Wednesday.
Councillor Aled Richards-Jones, the leader of the opposition Conservative group on the council, said: “The council’s Labour Administration must stand up and take responsibility for – and, crucially, explain – this fiasco.”
Labour MP Fleur Anderson held the Putney seat on July 4, with what was announced on the night as 20,952 votes compared to Conservative Lee Roberts’ total of 10,011.
But, the local authority has now revealed it failed to include 6,588 votes in the totals it announced for the candidates on the night.
The figures have since been updated on the council’s website to show Ms Anderson still holds the seat with a larger majority of 12,488 votes.
The council later posted a statement on its website, which read: “We acknowledge a spreadsheet issue that resulted in not all the properly counted and allocated votes being included in the announcement on the night in the Putney election count for the general election 2024.
“This was identified and the figures on this page have been updated. This did not affect the result or the order of the candidates.
“While we are confident this was an isolated incident we are taking this opportunity to review processes with a particular focus on spreadsheet procedures.”
Noting the severity of the mistake, Cllr Richards-Jones highlighted previous elections in Wandsworth which had been won by a handful of votes.
He said: “In any democracy, people need to have confidence their votes will be counted.
“Previous elections in Wandsworth have been won by a handful of votes – three years ago, a by-election in Tooting was won by a single vote, demonstrating how important it is that every vote is counted.
“Above all, the secrecy surrounding this needs to stop, and the Council needs to explain itself.”
A council spokesman told the South London Press that the Acting Returning Officer has apologised to all candidates and agents.
The election page has been updated with figures and a short statement: General Election 2024 – Wandsworth Borough Council
Pictured top: Wandsworth council (Picture: Sian Bayley)
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