Lib Dems celebrate triple win in Cambridgeshire
Ian Sollom and Pippa Heylings have been elected as new Liberal Democrat MPs in what has been a winning night for the party
- Published
Ballots from six Cambridgeshire constituencies have led to a damaging night for the Conservatives and an impressive gain for the Liberal Democrats.
The Liberal Democrats took previously Conservative seats of Ely & East Cambridgeshire, St Neots & Mid Cambridgeshire, and South Cambridgeshire.
The Conservatives held onto Huntingdon and Steve Barclay retained his seat in North East Cambridgeshire, Labour also kept its hold on Cambridge.
Although the evening saw a huge change to Cambridgeshire's MPs, there was a notable fall in votes compared to the 2019 general elections.
'A difficult night'
Steve Barclay retains his seat in a damaging night for the Tories
Stephen Barclay retained the North East Cambridgeshire seat for the Conservatives with a vastly reduced majority of 16,246 votes, followed by Reform UK with 9,057 and Labour which attained 8,008.
He said the win was "against a very difficult night for the Conservatives".
"Many friends and many good colleagues will have lost their seats and many people who voted for the conservatives last time were not able to do so this time," he said.
"I have been engaging every day of the campaign and heard concerns and I think it us incumbent on us all to go away and reflect on what people have said so we can ensure that our conservative values are ones that they identify with going forward."
'Close margin'
New Lib Dem MP Charlotte Cane said her first job would be to improve social housing in the constituency
Charlotte Cane took Ely and East Cambridgeshire for the Liberal Democrats, beating Lucy Frazer, who had been Conservative MP for the former seat of East Cambridgeshire.
She won 17,127 votes - 495 more than her Tory rival who deemed it a "close margin".
Ms Cane said her first job would be to improve social housing in the constituency and praised leader Sir Ed Davy who drew attention to their policies with his stunts.
Ms Frazer said it had been an honour to serve the people of East Cambridgeshire and said the reason the Conservatives lost was due to the party being divided.
Daniel Zeichner held Cambridge for Labour
Labour candidate Daniel Zeichner was re-elected in Cambridge, a seat he has held since 2015.
He achieved 19,614 votes compared to second place Liberal Democrats on 8,536.
Voter turnout in Cambridge was 60.4%.
This is a drop from the 2019 general election, where turnout was 67.2%.
'Historic moment'
Pippa Heylings takes South Cambridgeshire for the Liberal Democrats
Pippa Heylings has been elected as the new Liberal Democrat MP for South Cambridgeshire, taking the seat from the Conservatives.
She takes the seat from Conservative Anthony Browne, who ran for the Tories in St Neots & Mid Cambridgeshire this time round.
She said the result was a "historic moment for the Liberal Democrats nationally, and here in South Cambridgeshire".
"No matter how you voted in this election I reinstate my commitment to you," she said.
"I hear you, I will fight for you, for a positive and inclusive future.
"Whenever decisions are being taken in Westminster [I will] make sure our needs are understood."
Mr Sollom seemed overwhelmed with emotion during his acceptance speech
Meanwhile, Ian Sollom of the Liberal Democrats has taken the new seat of St Neots and Mid Cambridgeshire beating Conservative candidate Anthony Browne.
He gained 19,517 votes - a 4,621 majority over Mr Browne.
Shortly afterwards Mr Browne joked that his loss would mean he would be going down to the job centre tomorrow - and that it is a shame it is in Huntingdon and not St Neots.
'Beaten the odds'
Conservative Ben Obese-Jecty holds Huntingdon for the Conservatives
Ben Obese-Jecty has been elected as the Conservative MP for Huntingdon - once the domain of former Prime Minister John Major and considered one of the safest Tory seats in the UK.
He won with 18,257 votes, with a margin of fewer than 2,000 votes. The seat had been vacated by his fellow Conservative Jonathan Djanogly.
Mr Obese-Jecty says he is very pleased to have "beaten the odds".
Analysis by BBC political reporter, Emma Howgego
Cambridgeshire’s political colour has turned from mostly blue to a rainbow of colour.
A cabinet minister has lost her seat, there are three new Liberal Democrat MPs and Labour has strengthened its standing.
It was the election of three Liberal Democrats that has been the big story.
The party has been campaigning in South Cambridgeshire for a number of years.
Pippa Heylings was selected as their candidate very early on and it has been one of their top target seats.
Ian Sollom’s win in neighbouring St Neots & Mid Cambridgeshire was always a real possibility too.
But it is the victory of East Cambridgeshire councillor Charlotte Cane over the former Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer that is the story of the night.
On Sunday, a Liberal Democrat canvasser told me he believed there would be around 500 votes separating the top two in Ely & East Cambridgeshire.
Today’s result showed that was a very accurate picture.
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