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Andrew Dismore may make legal challenge to Hendon result

12:37pm Friday 7th May 2010 in News Photograph of the Author By Alex Hayes

Andrew Dismore Andrew Dismore

ANDREW Dismore, who lost his Hendon seat by just 106 votes this morning, has not ruled out the possibility of a legal challenge over the staging of the vote.

The Labour candidate lost after a recount of votes to Conservative Matthew Offord, but accused the Tory man of dirty tricks during the election campaign in his losers speech.

Mr Dismore said he was not ruling out legal action over problems with postal votes not arriving, queues at polling stations making people turn away and voters being given wrong information on which station to use.

He said: “I have to speak to lawyers before I make any decisions on this. Yesterday there were problems of lots of people not having their postal votes.

“I also saw a lot of people leaving big queues at polling stations because there were not enough staff on to cope with it, so in these areas those votes could have made all the difference.

“There are also some things he (Mr Offord) was writing on his leaflets I will refer to lawyers as well.”

The former barrister, who took control of the seat in 1997 added: “I don't think there was anything me or my team could have done. If we had had more support in door knocking I think we could have won.

“The Conservatives had the Ashcroft funded billboards all over the borough and we just couldn't compete with that sort of money.”

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Comments(8)

Don't Call Me Dave says...
1:25pm Fri 7 May 10

Once again Andrew Dismal threatens legal action against the Conservatives. Change the record pal, you lost fair and square. Get over it and get a life. Preferably one that doesn’t involve sponging of taxpayers.

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Hendonboy says...
2:43pm Fri 7 May 10

Dismore lost because he ran a very negative campaign against his opposition. He harassed us with mountains of campaign literature - I received 31 letters and pamphlets from him in the last week through my door in until 11.30pm on Weds. Not very green either. He scare-mongered cancer victims by telling them they would suffer under the Tories. He pidgeon-holed ethnic-minorities and those from terraced houses as dependent on labour and not from the 'rich Tory parts.' He lost my vote

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vickim says...
3:35pm Fri 7 May 10

I'm sorry he's lost, but I also think he, along with the local Labour Party, needs to reflect on why they didn't have enough knockers up on the day. It's a long trend in the Labour Party.

It's not any surprise when people feel they don't have any democratic say in what the party does anymore.

Not so long ago local trade unions would have sent delegates to Constituency Labour Party meetings. What's the point now? We don't.

Labour needs to rebuilt its activist base at the grassroots, the New Labour centre needs to relinquish some control for that to happen.

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james016 says...
4:05pm Fri 7 May 10

So it hasn't occurred to Mr Dismore that he lost as people were fed up of Labour, the expenses scandal of which he said: "If it was a big issue we would have had a lot of complaints from big people, not just the The Sunlight Centre." From here: http://www.times-ser
ies.co.uk/news/topst
ories/4759079.Labour
_MP_dismisses_pressu
re_group_s_letter_to
_commissioner_over_e
xpenses_row/
Top it off with a continual stream of negative campaign literature, and his reaction is to have a hissy fit.

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Grumblepop says...
4:48pm Fri 7 May 10

Andrew go with good grace and don't come back. Your re-election could never change the person you are ARROGANT DISINGENUOUS CONTEMPTUOUS EGO UNPRINCIPLED

GO PLEASE GO IT WAS THE SAME WITH YOU IN PADDINGTON

However Dave I was absolutely correct about your lot, Freers no2 got in you do know what a No2 is and what Hendon now gets

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Rog T says...
8:03am Sat 8 May 10

Andrew Dismore may have got grounds for complaint about several issues regarding the vote and the queues at the polling station, but going on about it like this makes him look like a bad loser.

We believe that up to 30 people couldn't vote at one polling station in Mill Hill because they were queueing when it shut (this was the only report of this in Mill Hill). Sadly for Andrew, if all of them were Labour voters, it still wouldn't have made any difference.

I also heard from a couple of people who had problems with their postal vote. Having said that, I suspect that this affected all parties equally.

In short, take it on the chin mate !

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Grumblepop says...
1:54pm Sat 8 May 10

The only issue for Andrew is a name change to 'DosMore' but not in Hendon. If Andrew earned more as a a lawyer than as MP, now is the time for the return to loadsamoney or is that now, not the case for the legal profession.

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Grumblepop says...
1:54pm Sat 8 May 10

The only issue for Andrew is a name change to 'DosMore' but not in Hendon. If Andrew earned more as a a lawyer than as MP, now is the time for the return to loadsamoney or is that now, not the case for the legal profession.

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