Conservatives in the Gainsborough Constituency have been celebrating the success locally following the re-election of Sir Edward Leigh, as the Member of Parliament, who saw his tenth general election victory and an increased majority, on a night of good result for the Party.
Following an efficient count, with turnout of 67.20% slightly lower than in 2017, Sir Edward was declared victorious shortly after 3:20am on Friday, 13th December 2019, with an increased majority of 22,967 (up 5,944). The result was:
- Sir Edward Leigh (Conservative) - 33,893 (66.4%) up 4.6%
- Perry Smith (Labour) - 10,926 (21.4%) down 7.3%
- Lesley Rollings (Liberal Democrat) - 5,157 (10.1%) up 3.1%
- Mary Cavill (Independent) - 1,070 (2.1%) up 2.1%
Speaking following the declaration, Sir Edward said:
"Thank you Alan and thank you to all your staff I know it has been a long evening, but I think we have really done well I think we are an hour and a half quicker. So
"I think it's been a good election. It's my tenth one now. You can never take anything for granted and there is no such thing as a safe seat. Can I just thank Boris Johnson for what many Conservatives think has been a very good, focussed campaign. I think, in this part of the world, I believe, we are very much in tune with what people want: Which is to get Brexit Done. I promise to go on to working for Gainsborough just as hard as I can."
Giles McNeill, Sir Edward's Agent said:
"Sir Edward has never taken his constituency for granted, touring the whole area during the campaign and working hard as a constituency MP. Making sure he deals with constituents' requests diligently. His poll of 33,893 is the highest poll for any candidate ever in the Gainsborough constituency, beating the previous bests (31,790 in 2017 and 31,444 in 1992). The 66.4% share of the vote is also an improvement on the previous contest, and only the second time that any candidate has gone beyond a sixty per cent share of the vote.
"Labour have kept their second place - where they've been since 2015, when they displaced the Liberal Democrats as our main opposition here - with a reduced share back to their 2015 level.
"The Liberal Democrats remain in the doldrums following their collapse in support in 2015 having picked up just three percentage points. Lesley Rolling's third outing for them has not really proved significantly more successful than her first or second."
