Exeter bleeds red

On a truly sobering night for progressive politics nationwide, there was a spark of hope in the re-election of Labour’s Ben Bradshaw as MP for Exeter.

Your MP until 2020

Contrary to the general trend, Bradshaw increased his majority by 8.2% to a 46.4% share of the vote, or 25,062 votes in total.

Joel Mason

The University’s very own Joel Mason fared rather worse, on a night in which, both locally and nationally, the Lib Dems were annihilated. The Lib Dem share in Exeter plummeted by 16% down to just 4.3% of the total votes cast.

Even with student support, he only came 2nd

Tory candidate Dom Morris, for whom the majority of you signalled your intention to vote in our survey, polled 33.1% of the total vote, up by only 0.1%.

Given Ed Miliband’s immediate resignation in light of his defeat last night, Bradshaw remained coy on his prospects of succeeding him as Leader of the Opposition, saying, “It is far, far too soon to think about anything other than returning home and getting some rest.”

Odds with major bookmakers on him doing exactly that are currently 150/1. Worth a flutter for those who would otherwise be drowning their sorrows?