How they fared: round-up of how MPs key to housing performed in the general election
Inside Housing looks at the MPs who are important to the housing sector and assesses the biggest winners and losers from yesterday’s vote
It was a night of surprises as the Conservative Party won the general election with a landslide victory.
The party, led by Boris Johnson, secured a majority by winning 364 seats and gaining a total of 47 new seats when compared to the 2017 election.
It was a miserable night for Labour as the party lost 59 seats and secured only 203 seats – its worst performance since 1935.
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Elsewhere, the Scottish National Party made major gains in Scotland, while the Liberal Democrats will be disappointed with its performance after winning only 11 seats.
But how did the MPs key to the housing sector and housing policy fare last night? Here, Inside Housing rounds up the results and sees whether these politicians gained or lost votes.
Conservative MPs
Picture: Peter Searle
Robert Jenrick
Secretary of state for housing, communities and local government
Constituency: Newark
Majority: 21,816
Vote share change: +0.6%
The current housing secretary won a healthy majority in Newark, a seat that the Tories have held since 2001 and that Mr Jenrick has held since a by-election in 2014. The constituency in the Midlands is strongly in favour of Brexit, with 60% of Newark and Sherwood voting leave in 2016.
Esther McVey
Minister of state for housing
Constituency: Tatton
Majority: 17,387
Vote share change: -0.8%
Ms McVey also maintains her large majority in Tatton, Cheshire. She has held the Conservative safe seat since 2017, when she took over from former chancellor George Osbourne, who resigned after the Brexit referendum.
Sajid Javid
Chancellor
Constituency: Bromsgrove
Majority: 23,106
Vote share change: +1.4%
It is no surprise that the chancellor secured this safe Conservative seat, where he has been an MP since 2010. Mr Javid will be key to housing policy in the coming months and years, with Boris Johnson having assured the Bromsgrove MP that he will continue as chancellor in the new government.
Jake Berry
Minister for the Northern Powerhouse and local growth
Constituency: Rossendale and Darwen
Majority: 9,522
Vote share change: +5.6%
Mr Berry was re-elected to his seat in Lancashire with an increased majority. He has held the seat since 2005, when he defeated Labour’s Janet Anderson.
Luke Hall
Minister for local government and homelessness
Constituency: Thornbury and Yate
Majority: 12,369
Vote share change: +2.6%
Mr Hall also kept his seat in South Gloucestershire with a large majority. He first won the seat in 2015 from Steve Webb of the Liberal Democrats.
Dominic Raab
Foreign secretary
Constituency: Esher and Walton
Majority: 2,743
Vote share change: -9.3%
As the votes came in last night, there were initially rumours that Esher and Walton was a 50:50 seat and that Mr Raab could be heading for an embarrassing loss. However, despite seeing his vote share drop by nearly 10%, losing many votes to the Liberal Democrats, the former housing minister clung on to his Surrey seat.
Labour MPs
Picture: Kate Stanworth
John Healey
Shadow housing secretary
Constituency: Wentworth and Dearne
Majority: 2,165
Vote share change: -24.7%
In a result that seems to reflect the wider story of this election, shadow housing secretary Mr Healey has clung on to his South Yorkshire seat – albeit with a drastically reduced majority.
Sarah Jones
Shadow housing minister
Constituency: Croydon Central
Majority: 5,949
Vote share change: -2.1%
Although her share of the overall vote slightly reduced, Ms Jones actually increased her majority by 297 votes as Conservative support also waned. Remember that Ms Jones snatched this south London seat away from former housing minister Gavin Barwell back in 2017.
Alex Cunningham
Shadow housing minister
Constituency: Stockton North
Majority: 1,027
Vote share change: -13.8%
The result for Alex Cunningham, who joined Labour’s housing team in April, largely mirrored Mr Healey’s. Shortly after his result was announced, Mr Cunningham called for Jeremy Corbyn to resign.
Clive Betts
Chair of the Housing, Communities and Local Government Select Committee
Constituency: Sheffield South East
Majority: 4,289
Vote share change: -12.4%
It was another similar story for Clive Betts, the long-running chair of the influential cross-party committee that scrutinises housing policy.
James Murray
London’s deputy mayor for housing
Constituency: Ealing North
Majority: 12,269
Vote share change: -9.5%
In a result that will interest the London housing sector, deputy mayor James Murray will move into mainstream politics, having won this west London seat by a somewhat shrunken margin. That, of course, means London mayor Sadiq Khan will need to pick a new person to hold the housing brief at City Hall.
Emma Dent-Coad
Former Labour MP for Kensington
Constituency: Kensington
Majority: Lost by 150 votes to Conservatives
Vote share change: -4.3%
After a surprise win in the 2017 election, which saw Ms Dent-Coad win the central London seat by just 20 votes, Kensington and Chelsea was a hotly contested seat. The borough is the one in which the Grenfell Tower fire took place just weeks after that election, and the response following the fire was a key issue on doorsteps. In the end it was clear that the vote was split, with former Conservative minister Sam Gymiah taking 9,312 votes. Felicity Buchan, the Conservative candidate, won 16.768 votes, compared to Ms Dent-Coad’s 16,618.
Other MPs
Picture: Parliament
Jo Swinson
Former leader of the Liberal Democrats
Constituency: East Dunbartonshire
Majority: Lost by 149 votes to Scottish National Party
Vote share change: -3.8%
It was a difficult night for Ms Swinson. After declaring just a matter of weeks ago that she could be the next prime minister, she ended the election losing her place in Westminster. The Lib Dems won only 11 seats nationally despite polling well early on in the election. In her own seat she was a victim of the march of the Scottish National Party, marginally losing her seat to Amy Callaghan. She has now stepped down from leading the party.
