General Election 2019: Conservative candidate thanks people of Northampton South 'for placing trust and confidence in me'

The Conservatives have held their seat in Northampton South, with Andrew Lewer increasing his majority in the 2019 general election.
The Northampton countThe Northampton count
The Northampton count

Mr Lewer saw off the challenge of Labour candidate Gareth Eales, and saw his majority increase from 1,159 to 4,697.

Retaining the seat he first won in 2017, Mr Lewer secured 20,914 votes compared to the 16,217 secured by Northampton Borough councillor Gareth Eales, who was contesting the seat for the first time.

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Mr Lewer thanked the residents of Northampton South for ‘placing their trust and confidence in me’.

Picture: Kirsty EdmondsPicture: Kirsty Edmonds
Picture: Kirsty Edmonds

He said: "What will change for me is the confidence of that increase in majority not just for me but an increase in majority nationally. Although my ability to change things of course has not changed because of that majority.

"Doorstep issues were confirming to me that concern over the town centre is as strong as ever. It gave me an opportunity to talk about the two Government funds that we're bidding for and the work Northampton Forward's doing.

"There was a lot of local issues and as I've said before I think my background as a council leader is really useful. You quite often find on the doorstep it's potholes, it's refuse collection, it's the unitary authority, it's street homelessness, it's housing, it';s all those local issues where it's my role to advocate for people with the local authority."

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The result compounded a disappointing night for Labour, with leader Jeremy Corbyn announcing he was to step down just a few minutes before the Northampton South count was declared.

Picture: Kirsty EdmondsPicture: Kirsty Edmonds
Picture: Kirsty Edmonds

Jill Hope came third with the Liberal Democrats, adding almost 1,000 extra votes onto those she secured two years ago. And Scott Mabbutt doubled the amount of votes he won in 2017.

The results were as follows:

Andrew Lewer (Conservative): 20,914

Gareth Eales (Labour): 16,217

Picture: Kirsty EdmondsPicture: Kirsty Edmonds
Picture: Kirsty Edmonds

Jill Hope (Lib Dems): 2,482

Scott Mabbutt (Green): 1,222

Turnout: 66.5 per cent