Tory vote slashed as Kashif stays in third
Date published: 14 January 2011
KASHIF ALI can only look on as the vote reveals he stayed in third place.
DISAPPOINTED Tory Kashif Ali saw his votes slump from almost 12,000 at the General Election to 4,481, and stayed in third place.
But he denied it was down to lack of support from his party nationally or the Prime Minister.
Denying the result was a stitch-up to support the Tory-Lib Dem Coalition, he added: “This is a typical by-election.
“Nearly 100 MPs came here to support me, we ran a good strong campaign, and started from third place.”
He said there could have been tactical voting by people who voted for him last time changing to Liberal Democrat, and added: “I am very proud of the campaign and remember it has been 30 years since a ruling party won a by-election.
“The Prime Minister broke with convention to come here and campaign for me.
“Perhaps I didn’t do enough to persuade voters. But we were in third place and we got squeezed.”
He shook hands with Labour’s Andy Burnham — who was the first to congratulate Debbie Abrahams with a big hug when the entered the Queen Elizabeth Hall, and added: “She has run a fair campaign on positive issues, and we have kept it positive and clean.
“I always found her very civil and courteous. The message is that is the way to do politics.”
Asked what went wrong, he said: “We are in government. Labour is in opposition, we started in third place.
“I am very proud of my team, who have been through rain, snow, Christmas, and worked very, very hard.”
Asked if he would fight again he said: “Tonight is not the night to reflect on that.
“Maybe I didn’t do enough, but I absolutely got support from the national party.”
And questioned about if there was a total collapse of his vote in Asian areas he responded: “I don’t think Asian people vote on ethnic lines.
“The issues that affect Asian people are the same that affect all communities.”
