JUSTIN Tomlinson said he was ‘overwhelmed’ to have been returned as the MP for North Swindon at the next parliament.

The Conservative candidate scored a huge victory, extended his majority by almost 4,500, returning a total of 26,295 votes.

He had been favourite but Mark Dempsey fought hard to take the seat but in the end could only manage 14,509.

Speaking  after the result was announced, a clearly emotional Justin said: “I’m absolutely overwhelmed. This is fantastic. I’ve been incredibly proud to represent my own town and tonight’s result is brilliant.

“I’ve been overwhelmed with cross-party support from across the constituency and the Conservatives who put their faith in me. I was voted the third most helpful MP in the last parliament and people know I will always put Swindon first. I now want to see Robert Buckland alongside me.

“Tonight’s result is beyond my wildest dreams. I’ve worked incredibly hard over the last five years but I’ve come up against a really well-funded and organised Labour campaign. They were feeling confident today that they could knock Robert and I out of our seats in Swindon so to come away with a bigger majority is just brilliant. I am so proud of my team.”

The result was announced shortly before 12.30pm and there was a turnout of 64.7 per cent, a slight increase on the year before.

The Labour candidate only made a brief appearance at the count and left immediately after the result was announced.

However, in his speech on the stage he congratulated his victorious opponent and thanked his supporters.

He said: “I have been really lucky to have such amazing people around me. You are great people and great friends. I cannot thank you enough for all you have done for this campaign.

“North Swindon is a great place and being its Member of Parliament is a huge honour so I congratulate Justin thoroughly on his win.

“And I thank all the candidates because it has been a really good and fair contest. We had different visions and different values but I pay tribute to all your efforts.

“I also want to thank all the people who voted for me and put their faith in me.

“It is the people who work day in, day out for the community which make Swindon the place it is today.

Finally I wanted to say politics matters and makes a huge difference. Together we are stronger.”

UKIP came in third place with 8,011 votes with the Green Party just pipping the Liberal Democrats to fourth place with 1,723 votes to 1,704.

After the count, James Faulkner of UKIP said: “Overall, I’m pleased but I was expecting to get slightly higher.

“I was a local candidate last year and felt perhaps I could have done more but I can’t say that this time around. I’m proud of the work we have done.

“I think our performance has probably affected Labour going down. I’m now interested to see how my other colleagues perform.”

The Green Party ran a strong campaign throughout, and performed well in hustings events. In the last few days there were supporters out in the streets raising awareness and the candidate said she was pleased with the outcome.

Poppy Hebden-Leeder, of the Green Party, said: “I’m feeling absolutely fine, I’m pleased with our performance and it shows people out there are backing the Greens.”

Janet Ellard of the Liberal Democrats said she was not happy with the result but her focus was on the national scene.

One of the criticisms of her was that she lived in Frome and commuted for the campaign.

Janet  said: “Obviously I’m disappointed but as I said earlier I’m intrigued about the results around the country rather than my own. I’m interested to see the performance of others, many of whom I consider friends.”

The  North Swindon seat was the first Conservative victory in the country and brought huge cheers from the party members in the Oasis. The count was so quick that Justin only arrived shortly before the announcement.