General election 2010: Tories edge closer to 300 with Ealing Central win
By Sam Dale
The Conservatives have won in Ealing Central and Acton, sending them another seat closer to the 300-mark.
Angie Bray was elected with 17,944 votes after a five per cent swing from Labour and clear daylight over her Liberal Democrat opponent.
Labour’s Bassam Mahfouz received 14,228 votes and was down 3.2%, while the Liberal Democrats’ Jon Ball stood on 13,021 votes.
The Tories squeezed both Labour and the Liberal Democrats, as they have done across many other seats.
After boundary changes the new seat had become more suburban and Conservative, with most of Labour’s support drawn largely from the South Acton council estate.
The constituency extends northwards into the Park Royal industrial areas.
Ealing Central and Acton was one of the closest fought three-way marginals in the 2010 campaign.
It was expected that the Tories would gain Ealing. It was 18th on their target list.
