Waltham Forest voters across the borough’s three constituencies are going to the polls today to elect their preferred parliamentary candidate today
Voters in the three Waltham Forest constituencies are today deciding who they want to represent them in Parliament.
Polling stations opened at 7am and will close at 10pm. The three constituencies are Chingford and Woodford Green, Walthamstow, and Leyton and Wanstead.
New ID rules
This is the first general election in the UK to be held under the new rules requiring voters to prove their identity. If you are voting in person at a polling station, you must bring an acceptable form of identification.
This can include passports, driving licences and freedom passes, as well as many others. Copies on a mobile phone or tablet device will not be accepted.
A full list of acceptable ID can be found via Waltham Forest Council’s website.
Where to vote
All polling stations are open throughout this period and if you arrive before 10pm you will still be able to vote even if there is a queue.
To find out where you can vote, check your polling card which will have details of your nearest polling station and a map.
Alternatively, you find your local polling stations via the council’s website.
The results
Votes across the three Waltham Forest constituencies – Chingford and Woodford Green, Walthamstow, and Leyton and Wanstead – will be counted at the Feel Good Centre in Walthamstow, starting soon after polls close at 10pm.
The results of the three seats are expected to be declared at around 3am on Friday, 5th July.
The Echo will be reporting live from the election count and will report the results via our website as soon as they are announced.
Chingford and Woodford Green
Iain Duncan Smith is hoping to hold onto his Chingford and Woodford Green seat today but faces a tough fight from Labour’s Shama Tatler and the independent candidate Faiza Shaheen. In 2019, Duncan Smith held onto the seat with 48.5% of the vote share, getting just 1,260 votes more than second-placed Shaheen, who then stood for Labour.
He is looking to defend his seat in a more crowded candidate pool this year, with five other candidates instead of two standing against him. The ballot list includes Josh Hadley for the Liberal Democrats, and Paul Luggeri for the Reform Party.
The Green Party candidate Chris Brody will be on the ballot but he is currently suspended from his party due to a blog post he made where he admitted to sexually assaulting someone when sectioned under the Mental Health Act.
Walthamstow
In Walthamstow, incumbent Stella Creasy is projected to keep her seat though faces nine other candidates including three independents. One, Mohammed Ashfaq is standing due to the Muslim community’s dissatisfaction with Labour over its stance on Gaza, and a second, Ruth Rawlins, is pursuing an anti-abortion campaign. A third independent candidate, Dan Edelstyn, is standing on a pro-renewable energy platform.
In 2019, Creasy secured a huge 76.1% of the total vote share in the constituency.
Leyton and Wanstead
In Leyton and Wanstead, the incumbent John Cryer has stepped down. Labour has selected former RAF commander Calvin Bailey to contest the seat. Bailey faces six other candidates, including the independent Shanell Johnson, the Green Party’s Charlotte Lafferty, the Liberal Democrats’ Tara Copeland, the Conservatives Gloria Croxall, the Workers Party’s Mahtab Anwar Aziz, and the Rejoin EU Party’s Mark Bezer.
The candidates:
Chingford and Woodford Green
Chris Brody, Green Party
Iain Duncan Smith, Conservative Party
Josh Hadley, Liberal Democrats
Paul Luggeri, Reform Party
Faiza Shaheen, independent
Shama Tatler, Labour
(Chris Brody, the Green candidate has been suspended by his party but his name is still on the ballot)
Walthamstow
Imran Arshad, Workers Party
Mohammed Ashfaq, independent
Stella Creasy, Labour and Co-operative Party
Dan Edelstyn, independent
Sanjana Karnani, Conservative Party
Martin Lonergan, Reform Party
Ruth Rawlins, independent
Rosalinda Rowlands, Green Party
Nancy Taaffe, Trade Unionist and Socialist (TUSC)
Rebecca Taylor, Liberal Democrats
Leyton and Wanstead
Mahtab Anwar Aziz, Workers Party
Calvin Bailey, Labour Party
Simon Mark Bezer, Rejoin EU
Gloria Croxall, Conservative Party
Tara Copeland, Liberal Democrats
Shanell Johnson, independent
Charlotte Lafferty, Green Party
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