Election Results 2017: Canterbury won by Labour for first time

Labour's Rosie Duffield won the seat with a 45% share of the vote

Canterbury has elected a Labour MP for the first time since the constituency was formed in 1918.

Tory MP Sir Julian Brazier, who had represented the Kent area for the last 30 years, lost his seat to Rosie Duffield.

The Tories saw five-figure majorities in the 1970s, but the vote fell away in the 80s and early 90s.

Sir Julian, a Brexiteer and former defence minister, was awarded a knighthood in the New Year honours.

Canterbury's turnout was 56,800, and Ms Duffield won 25,572 votes - a 45% share - pushing Sir Julian into second place with 25,385 votes, a difference of 187 votes.

The result saw Labour increase their vote share by 20.5% from the last general election in 2015.

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Two years ago, Sir Julian held the seat with 22,918 votes, a 42.9% share, beating Labour's Hugh Lanning who had 13,120 votes - a 24.5% share.

'Student movement'

Ms Duffield said she was shocked but excited and added: "I can't wait to get on with the job."

The Conservatives had claimed there was a strong student movement on social media with 8,000 new voter registrations in the area.

Anti-Brexit reaction was also credited with fuelling the shift.

When asked about claims that Labour had "bought" the student vote by offering free tuition fees in its manifesto, Ms Duffield said: "I think they just wanted a fair chance for education for all.

"We can afford it. We are the fifth richest economy in the world.

"We can afford to educate our young people and give them a fair start across the board."

Up until 1885, the Canterbury borough had elected two MPs.

In 1918 the parliamentary borough was abolished and replaced by a new county constituency, which had been held by the Conservatives until the 2017 general election.