Pro-gaming MPs retain parliamentary seats

Notorious anti-games campaigner Keith Vaz has retained his Labour seat in the UK general election, as other pro-industry members of parliament (MP) also survived the night.

Vaz saw his number votes in safe Labour seat Leicester East dip by 5 per cent, but was still more than 14,000 ahead of his nearest Conservative rival.

In the end the status quo amongst MPs who regularly comment on the industry went unchanged, with fellow Labour MP Tom Watson also retaining his seat for West Bromwich East.

Watson became famous within the industry for establishing the Facebook-based pressure group Gamers' Voice, which saw 400 members join in the first four hours. He was returned to parliament with a 9.2 per cent reduction in his share of the vote.

Conservative MP Ed Vaizey, who has also been seen to engage positively with the games industry, was returned at his Wantage constituency with an increased vote of 8.9 per cent.

Fellow Tory MP John Whittingdale, who was one of the first to suggest a Conservative government would offer tax breaks for the industry. He also retained his seat, with a 3.5 per cent increase in his vote.

Don Foster, the most prominent Liberal Democrat MP to comment on the games industry, was also returned to parliament with a 11.2 per cent increase in his vote.

Finally, Ewan Lamont, the senior producer and programme manager at developer Monumental Games, failed in his bid to become the Conservative MP for Nottingham East. In a relatively close campaign he came in third behind his Labour and Liberal Democrat rivals.

Although not all votes have been counted at time of press a hung parliament appears likely, with the Conservatives having the largest number of MPs but not an overall majority.

Foster, Vaizey and Watson all recently aired their views on tax breaks for the UK games industry in the latest episode of the EGTV show, focused specifically on politics and games, available here.