Newly re-elected Conservative MP for North West Essex Kemi Badenoch has thanked supporters following the General Election.
Mrs Badenoch received 19,360 votes - 35.6 per cent of the overall votes, which is a decrease of 26.1 per cent from her previous majority.
Following the election, Mrs Badenoch said: "Thank you North West Essex!
Candidates in North West Essex (Image: Celia Bartlett)
"It is an honour and a privilege to have been re-elected to be your Member of Parliament and I am grateful that you have put your trust in me to represent you once again.
"To all those who supported my campaign, THANK YOU. I couldn’t have done it without you.
"Volunteers, members and local councillors all joined me to make the case for a Conservative voice representing us here in North West Essex.
"We knocked on so many doors and delivered tens of thousands of leaflets to get our message out.
"I will continue as always, to represent the best interests of everyone in the constituency whether or not they voted for me and look forward to the work of being a scrutinising legislator in this parliament."
Labour candidate Issy Waite addresses voters (Image: Celia Bartlett)
In the election on Thursday night, Labour candidate Issy Waite received 16,750 votes, while Reform UK's Grant StClair-Armstrong received 7,668 votes, despite resigning from his party after it was discovered he had previously encouraged people to vote for the far-right British National Party (BNP).
Liberal Democrat Smita Rajesh received 6,055 votes and Green candidate Edward Gildea received 2,846 votes.
Independent candidate Andrew David Green received 852 votes, fellow independent Erik Bonino received 699 votes and independent candidate Niko Omilana received 156.
The first ballot box arriving in North West Essex (Image: Celia Bartlett)
Although the results did not match the Labour victory nationally, candidate Issy Waite noted the increase in Labour votes in North West Essex.
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Miss Waite commented: "I am honoured that 16,750 of you chose to cast your votes for me and for the new Labour government, coming only 2,610 votes behind Kemi Badenoch.
"This was the closest result in the constituency since 1945 and the highest Labour vote since 1970."
There was a voter turnout of 68 per cent in the constituency - which was previously named Saffron Walden.
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