General election 2010: Jacqui Smith ousted
By Aled Thomas
Britain’s first female home secretary, Jacqui Smith, has lost her seat.
Ms Smith, who was mired in controversy about her expenses and her husband’s claiming for adult films, was well beaten by the Conservative candidate Karen Lumley.
A large 9.2% swing saw Ms Lumley beat the former home secretary by nearly 6,000 votes, 19,138 to 13,317.
In her concession speech Mrs Smith said she was proud to live in a country where ten candidates could contest a clean election.
