Liberal Democrat Susan Kramer failed to hold her Richmond Park seat despite a controversial campaign against hospital reconfiguration.

Ms Kramer had a 4,000 vote lead in 2005 but lost the constituency to the Conservative candidate, millionaire environmentalist Zac Goldsmith.

Ms Kramer and Ed Davey, MP for Kingston and Surbiton, had said leaked plans showed Richmond Hospital’s maternity and accident and emergency services were at risk.

Mr Goldsmith, along with the Labour and Green candidates for Richmond Park, said the campaign to save services “appears to have been invented for political reasons”, and described it as ”scaremongering for political ends”. Both the Convervatives and Labour complained in Parliament about the campaign.

Mr Goldsmith has also suggested, however, that if hospital services were threatened under the Tories he would step down. He said: “I said… Kingston Hospital will be safe. If any of those promises are broken I will trigger a by-election and allow people to penalise my party.”

Mr Davey held his seat but his share of the vote fell by 1.3 percentage points.

HSJ Post-Election Briefing - Monday 10th May 2010

Attend HSJ’s post-election briefing for an immediate reaction on what the general election result means for you and your organisation.

  • Venue: The ICO (International Coffee Organisation), 22 Berners Street, London W1T 3DD
  • Delegates may pay at the door or book in advance.
  • Find out more: www.hsj-postelectionbriefing.com

Topics

Election 2010: a candidate watchlist for the NHS