Landslide victory for Conservatives in Torridge and West Devon
Geoffrey Cox has won Torridge & West Devon. - Credit: Archant
Geoffrey Cox retains seat for third term with ‘best result since the 1980s’ for Conservative candidate in Torridge and West Devon.
Geoffrey Cox has won the Torridge and West Devon seat for a third time - taking more than 50 per cent of the votes.
Mr Cox said he was ‘truly’ humbled at the announcement, which came at 10.50am.
Torridge was one of the last constituencies in the country to declare, after reinforncements were brought in to hurry the delayed count along.
Mr Cox polled 28,774 votes, beating Derek Sargent of UKIP by 10,371.
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Lib Dem Paula Dolphin received 7,483 votes, Labour’s Mike Sparling 6,015 and the Green’s Catherine Simmons 3,941.
Mr Cox, who treated members of staff to a Champagne and Doom Bar breakfast this morning, said he was ‘surprised’ at the support.
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He added: “We believed we were winning, and winning well, but never in my wildest dreams did I imagine people would show so much support for me and the Conservatives.
“This is probably the best result for any Torridge and West Devon MP since the 1980s - and one of the biggest victories in the country.
“We are humbled by the level of trust that has been placed in me by constituents.
“I am finding it hard to find the words to express my thanks right now and will be driving around the constituency this weekend to say thank you to those who voted.”
The Torridge result followed the regional and national trend as the Conservatives claimed a surprising number of seats to be on course for a slender overall majority.
Counts for the district votes are due to commence at 2pm today (Friday).