The results are in from exit poll at Stratford hustings and the winner is…
FIRSTLY, we suggest you take these results with a large pinch of salt. On Monday evening, with the help of the sixth formers from King Edward VI School, the Herald carried out an exit poll of the hundreds of people who attended the hustings at the Levi Fox Hall.
Out of around 600 people who watched the six candidates answer questions and debate the issues, 306 put their mark by their preferred candidate and handed over their ‘ballot paper’ to the students for counting.
The result are in… and they went overwhelmingly in favour of Manuela Perteghella of the Liberal Democrats who received 195 votes – around 64 per cent.
So who was second? That was James Crocker of Reform UK with 45 votes (15 per cent) followed by the Conservatives’ Chris Clarkson on 31 votes (10 per cent) and Kevin Taylor, the independent candidate, who attracted 12 votes (four per cent).
Labour’s Seyi Agboola was next on 11 votes with Neil O’Neil, of Non-Pol, on seven votes and the Green Party, who did not want to be involved in the hustings, on three.
Two people also abstained.
What does this tell us? Well, it shows that the Liberal Democrat voters came out in force to support their candidate. That was evident on the night with the cheers for Manuela.
It also reinforces the knowledge that Stratford, as a town rather than a constituency, is a Lib Dem stronghold – Stratford Town Council is dominated by Liberal Democrats – and that, perhaps, the real battle for the Stratford-on-Avon seat is going to be won and lost in the other market towns – Alcester, Henley and Shipston – and the surrounding villages.
The rural vote could be the one to watch.
It also tells us that Reform UK has a following who are happy to spend a Monday night in a school hall to support their man (or men, as Nigel Farage seems to be the man with the pulling power). Will they finish second in the constituency? No. That would be a huge shock.
The feeling at the hustings is that it’s still a two-horse race – blue v yellow – with some interesting subplots provided by Reform and independent Kevin Taylor, who impressed more than a few on Monday night.
