Labour gain but Tories keep foothold in Bradford

The declaration at the Shipley count where the Conservatives lost a seat

Keighley and Ilkley is now Bradford's only Conservative seat.

Four out of the five constituencies in the district are now red after Shipley was lost to Labour, who won with a majority of more than 8,000.

Bradford South, West and East stayed Labour while Keighley remains blue, led by the re-elected Robbie Moore.

Shipley candidate Sir Philip Davies told the BBC he was "disappointed" with his defeat by Labour's Anna Dixon but that it had been "on the cards".

Sir Philip, who had been an MP in the seat since 2005, blamed his party's "damaged brand" for the result, citing Covid and Liz Truss's brief stint as prime minister as two major reasons.

He said: "But this is my defeat, I’m not blaming anyone else... I take responsibility.

"I congratulate Anna... she fought a very good campaign, she deserved to win and has the makings of a very good local MP."

Speaking about reports that he bet £8,000 that he would lose his seat, Sir Philip said: "I didn't win half as much as people think I did - it certainly doesn’t compensate for losing the election."

Bradford West's Naz Shah giving a thumbs up to the gallery ahead of the count

Sir Philip admitted though that betting was his "favourite pastime" and "gives him a great deal of pleasure".

Meanwhile, Bradford South's Judith Cummins, Bradford West's Naz Shah and Bradford East's Imran Hussain all had their victories confirmed at around 05:00 BST on Friday.

Ms Shah kept her seat but with a very small majority - she won by 707 votes, compared to 27,019 in 2019.

Just missing out was Independent Muhammed Islam who recorded 11,017 ballots in his favour.

In her victory speech Ms Shah thanked police, who she said “kept people safe during what has been a very toxic election".

Afterwards she told the BBC: "I have never experienced such a vitriolic election where I have experienced vandalism and threats to my personal safety.

"The idea I have to have close personal protection at times and not be able to canvass cannot be dismissed."

She added: “Throughout the country we are seeing, and have seen, the thirst for change.

“Thanks to each and every voter, whether you voted for me or not, for taking part in our great British democracy."

Mr Hussain kept his seat in Bradford East with 14,098 votes.

However, his vote share of 37.9% was 25% lower than in 2019.

Much of that was eaten up by Independent candidate Talat Sajawal who accrued 7,909 ballots in his favour with a focus on Gaza.

Ms Cummins kept her seat with a 4,392 majority despite fears she may have been beaten by Reform as Bradford South was a heavily Brexit-voting constituency in 2016.

Robbie Moore recorded more than 40% of all votes cast in the Keighley and Ilkley contest

Labour's John Grogan was defeated at the hands of Tory Robbie Moore in Keighley and Ilkley once again.

It was history repeating as the result mirrored 2019.

Mr Moore racked up 18,589 ballots compared to Mr Grogan's 16,964.

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