MALVERN’s MP Harriett Baldwin has comfortably retained her West Worcestershire seat with a majority of 21,328.
The Conservative MP secured 34,703 votes to successfully defend the seat ahead of Labour’s Samantha Charles with 13,375.
Mrs Baldwin’s majority is slightly down from the 22,578 she won in 2015 but the Conservative added more than 4,000 votes to her personal tally from the residents of West Worcestershire.
The Liberal Democrats slightly increased their vote and finished third as Edward McMillan-Scott notched 5,307 votes.
Natalie McVey from the Green Party finished with 1,605 while UKIP slumped from second to fifth and lost more than 6,000 votes as Mike Savage won 1,481 votes for the party.
Speaking after her re-election, Mrs Baldwin said: “I am obviously delighted with the result and I would like to thank everyone who voted to re-elect me on such a high turnout.
“I repeat my pledge to keep working hard for local people to improve our local infrastructure, support our wonderful NHS and deliver the right conditions to allow our local economy to grow.
“I want to thank the Malvern Hills District Council team who managed the election and worked hard through the night to complete the count so efficiently.
“It is a privilege to be elected again and I look forward to returning to Westminster to continue my work as a strong voice for all the people of West Worcestershire.”
Although the Conservatives comfortably held West Worcestershire, the party nationally have lost their majority resulting in the election ending in a hung parliament.
With two seats still to declare the Conservatives currently hold 317 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.
Prime Minister Theresa May has said the UK now needs a period of ‘stability’ and has said she will not be resigning in the wake of her party’s election result.
Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn has however called on the PM to resign.
He also said: “We are ready to serve this country – the party that has lost is the Conservative Party.
“I think we need a change.”
Full result:
Harriett Baldwin (Con) – 34,703
Samantha Charles (Lab) – 13,375
Edward McMillan-Scott (Lib Dem) – 3,450
Natalie McVey (Green) – 1,605
Mike Savage (UKIP) – 1,481
More to follow as the day progresses….
