Deputy London Mayor Kit Malthouse earned himself a second term on the London Assembly today (Friday, May 4) when he won the West Central vote by a wide margin.

The Conservative candidate, who has been in charge of the capital’s policing for the past four years, polled 73,761 votes with Labour’s Todd Foreman second on 44,630.

The battle for the West Central seat – which is voted for by residents of Westminster, Hammersmith & Fulham, and Kensington & Chelsea – was expected to be a close affair with some in the Labour party hoping for a shock victory in a seat that the Tories have held since the London Assembly was created in 2000.

But while Labour increased their share of the vote from 21 per cent in 2008 to 30 per cent, the loss was shared evenly among the other parties.

Indeed Mr Malthouse still recorded a majority 50 per cent – down by just two per cent on his 2008 result.

Susanna Rustin retained third place for the Green party with nine per cent of the vote with Liberal Democrat Layla Moran in fourth (seven per cent) and UKIP’s Elizabeth Jones last (four per cent).

Voter turnout was just 39 per cent.

“No one is ever certain but I was nervous about low turnout,” said Mr Malthouse.

“It was so high last time and when it starts to fall, the vote can become unpredictable.

“But we ran an exceptional campaign and covered every part of the constituency which the other parties didn’t do.

“I have spent four years working very hard for West Central and making sure the promises that Boris Johnson made were carried out in the area and I have been rewarded in the ballot box.”

Labour candidate Mr Foreman said he was pleased with the count which saw his party record their best ever result in the West Central seat.

“We have done well,” he said. “It’s not just about winning the constituency but by doing well in West Central we have increased the Labour party vote in London.

“Being from Kensington & Chelsea, I know that there are parts of West Central that are not prone to high swing.”

After securing third spot ahead of the Lib Dems, Green party candidate Ms Rustin hailed the work of everyone involved in her campaign.

“This is the best campaign the Green party has fought in West Central and we are thrilled,” she said.

“People are having a really tough time in central London with the cost of living and the cost of moving around increasing but this result shows that even when people are hard up economically, they still care about the environment.”