NIGEL Huddleston retained the Mid Worcestershire seat for the Conservatives in a dramatic night which saw the General Election end in a hung parliament.
Mr Huddleston cruised to victory by picking up 35,967 votes and increased his majority by 3,000 compared to 2015.
He is now sitting on a majority of 23,326.
The official turnout in Mid Worcestershire was 73 per cent – that’s up by two per cent from 2015.
Following his re-election, Mr Huddleston said: “I am delighted to have been re-elected as the Member of Parliament for Mid Worcestershire with an increased majority.
“It is humbling to know that so many people put their faith in me when they placed their vote and I will continue to work hard to deserve their trust and will endeavour to act in the interests of all the residents of Mid Worcestershire no matter who they voted for.”
His nearest challenger was Labour’s Fred Grindrod who picked up 12,641 votes. It was a successful night for the party who increased their vote share by 8.5 per cent in Mid-Worcestershire.
It was Labour’s best result in Mid Worcestershire, in terms of vote share, since the 2005 General Election.
Reacting to his second place finish, Mr Grindrod said: “I’m pleased with our result. Our aim was to get back into second place and we did that by increasing the Labour vote by 5000.
“We had a great campaign in Mid Worcestershire – and good fun too. We had great conversations on the doorsteps and discussions at our street stalls with lots of Mid Worcestershire residents telling us about their concerns about cuts to vital services and worrying about the consequences of theresa may’s hard Brexit.
“I think the election results nationally are reflecting the concerns of those people in Mid Worcestershire we spoke to – making it clear that the electorate have had enough of austerity and do not want to be taken to the Brexit cliff edge by Theresa May.”
Liberal Democrat Margaret Rowley finished in third place and failed to improve on her performance from the 2015 General Election.
UKIP saw a collapse in their vote in Mid Worcestershire. After finishing second just two years ago, last night the party’s candidate, David Greenwood, finished in fourth. UKIP’s vote share dropped by 14.7 per cent.
The Green Party also saw their vote share fall. It was down by 1.2 per cent compared to 2015 with Fay Whitfield finishing in 5th place.
“I’d like to thank everyone for their support over the last six weeks of campaigning,” Miss Whitfield said.
“2.5% of the vote might not seem like much to some people, but when you are fighting for something you believe in every vote matters and is valued.
“Watch this space – this is just the beginning for me.”
Full result:
Nigel Huddleston (Conservative) – 35,967
Fred Grindrod (Labour) – 12,641
Margaret Rowley (Liberal Democrats) – 3,450
David Greenwood (UKIP) – 1,660
Fay Whitfield (Green Party) – 1,371
Although the Conservatives comfortably held Mid Worcestershire, the party nationally have lost their majority resulting in the election ending in a hung parliament.
With one seat still to declare the Conservatives currently hold 318 seats, Labour has 261, the SNP are on 35, the Liberal Democrats won 12 seats and the Greens finished on one.
The result means the Conservatives are eight seats short of a majority.
As a result, this lunchtime Prime Minister Theresa May visited the Queen at Buckingham Palace to ask to form a minority government.
Arriving back in Downing Street, Mrs May said the Conservatives will work with Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionists Party to support her minority government.
Further coverage:
- Nigel Huddleston said he’s ‘glad’ Theresa May is forming a Government. Read here.
- Harriett Baldwin is re-elected as MP for West Worcestershire. Read here.
- Remind yourself of how the dramatic election night unfolded here.
- Tory Robin Walker retains Worcester seat.
- Communities Secretary, Sajid Javid, holds Bromsgrove seat. Read here.
- Rachel Maclean holds Redditch for the Conservatives.
