GE2024: Labour holds Coventry East

The Labour Party has won the seat of Coventry East in this year’s general election, with former Labour MP Mary Creagh being elected to the constituency.

Creagh, who was MP for the seat of Wakefield, in Yorkshire, from 2005 to 2019, held the seat for Labour with 18,308 votes (49.5%), succeeding retiring MP Colleen Fletcher.

Her nearest rival, Iddrisu Sufyan of Reform UK, polled about 11,000 votes behind, on 6,685 (18.1%), whilst the Conservatives’ candidate, Sarah Lesadd, slumped into third place, down from 15,720 votes in 2019 to just 6,240 (16.9%).

Stephen Gray of the Green Party, and Mike Massimi of the Liberal Democrats, won 2,730 (7.4%), and 1,227 (3.3%) votes respectively. Paul Bedson of the Workers Party of Britain took 1,027 votes (2.8%), while perennial socialist candidate and former Labour MP Dave Nellist finished last, with 797 votes (2.2%).

It is the honour of my life to represent the people and place that made me

Mary Creagh, MP for Coventry East

Turnout for the seat was just 48.8%, down from 58.5% in 2019. Having suffered a fall in support in 2019, Labour saw its share of the vote this time round actually slip further despite the party’s advances nationally, dropping 2.6 points to fall below an absolute majority in the seat for the first time since 2010.

In a post on X made after her election, Creagh thanked her supporters and campaign team for the victory. She said: “It is the honour of my life to represent the people and place that made me.”

Having lost re-election to the seat of Wakefield in 2019, the win will mark a return to the Commons for Creagh, who served as a senior minister in the Shadow Cabinet of Labour leader Ed Miliband from 2010 to 2015.

The ex-MP was later briefly discussed as a potential candidate to stand against Jeremy Corbyn for Labour in Islington North. In February 2024, Creagh was selected as Labour’s candidate for Coventry East, narrowly beating local Councillor Jim O’Boyle.

She will now represent the seat for Labour in the next Parliament.