The Labour Party has defied odds of 66/1 to win Kensington.
The seat was the last to declare and went to Labour by just 25 votes after the count was paused because of teller fatigue.
Historically Kensington is a Conservative stronghold, highlighted by Lady Victoria Borwick winning over 52 per cent of the vote back in 2015.
It was also Michael Portillo’s seat when he won the 1999 by-election, and is also the constituency in which The Daily Mail is based.
People are asking me how I shall vote. I shan’t. I live in Chelsea and Kensington, so under our present system my vote is utterly worthless
— John Cleese (@JohnCleese) May 21, 2017
Labour could be backed at 66/1 to win the seat in the run-up to the election. Yesterday morning this price had shortened but was still as big as 25/1.
Other constituencies where the bookmakers got it drastically wrong include:
- Canterbury: Labour
It’s the first time in 150 years that the Conservative party haven’t held the seat in Canterbury. Labour won the seat for the first time last night claiming 45% of the vote in the process. It’s safe to say not many predicted such an outcome and on the 5th of June, the Labour party could be backed at 33/1 with one bookmaker. Yesterday morning this price was slightly shorter but could still be backed at 20/1. - Battersea: Labour
The Labour party were 5/1 yesterday morning to cause an upset with Labour candidate Marsha De Cordova doing just that by overturning a majority of almost 8,000 to win power in the region. Just two months ago, the odds of Labour party win were a massive 12/1. - Sheffield Hallam: Labour
Nick Clegg would have gone into yesterday pretty confident he would regain his seat, however the former deputy prime minister lost to Labour’s Jared O Mara by more than 2,000 votes. On the 5th of May, Labour were a gigantic 66/1 to win the seat, this had come into as short as 7/4 yesterday before results started rolling in. - Stockton South: Labour
A recount was held in Stockton South before it was confirmed Labour’s Paul Williams had defeated James Wharton to take the seat. He secured 888 more votes than the Conservative candidate causing yet another shock win for Labour. Only five days previously, Williams was 16/1 to win the seat and although his odds were cut during ahead of Thursday’s election, he was still 7/2 before a vote was counted. - Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill: Labour
Another Labour victory and another huge shift in the vote with Hugh Gaffney overturning a huge 11,501 majority held by SNP’s Phil Boswell to reclaim a seat they lost two years previously. On the 11th of May, Labour were a massive 20/1 to claim the seat and were still available at 8/1 on the day of the election. - Glasgow North East: Labour
With just 242 votes in it, Labour’s Paul Sweeny managed to snatch the seat back from SNP’s Ann McLaughlin. With the SNP winning six of the seven seats in Glasgow, this Labour victory came as even more of a shock. Labour were 17/1 to win the seat on the 1st of June, bookmakers had cut their odds on a Labour win to 19/2 by the day of the vote. - Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath: Labour
Labour’s Lesley Laird was another MP to snatch a victory from the hands of the SNP. Like Glasgow North East, she won by a very narrow margin, winning by under 300 seats. On the 23rd of May, Laird was a massive 20/1 to win the Scottish seat. - Midlothian: Labour
Labour candidate Danielle Rowley has been elected the new MP for Midlothian replacing Owen Thompson of the SNP party. Rowley won the vote by just under 900 votes, a result which came as a shock to the Scottish public. The new MP was 20/1 to win the seat on the 8th of May, but did shorten to 10/1 before the results.
Data supplied by Oddschecker.
