Labour’s Jim Cunningham wins Coventry South

Jim Cunningham has been re-elected as Member of Parliament for Coventry South. Cunningham won the seat with 25,874 votes and 55% of the vote.

In winning, Cunningham defeated five other candidates – Michelle Lowe (Conservative), Aimee Challenor (Green Party), Greg Judge (Liberal Democrat), Ian Rogers (UKIP) and the independent candidate Sandra Findlay.

Cunningham has represented the seat since 1997; in the 2015 General Election, he claimed 18,472 votes and 42.3% of the vote. In this election, he stood on a platform of campaigning to provide a strong local police force, improving bus services and providing the NHS with more support.

His 55% share of the vote saw a swing of +12.8%. The Labour Party were the main beneficiaries of a severely diminished UKIP vote which fell by 10.8% of the total share. Ian Rogers won 1,037 votes, 2.2% of the 66.4% turnout.

Turnout was 66.4%, up from 61.2% in 2015.