Labour's Dan Aldridge has overturned a Conservative majority to become his party's first-ever MP in Weston-super-Mare.
The announcement was made just before 4am on Friday (July 5), almost an hour earlier than first expected. Dan Aldridge won with 16,310 votes, followed by John Penrose (11,901), Richard Pearse (7,735) and Patrick Keating (3,756).
The seat was previously held by Conservative Penrose.
Mr Aldridge gave a speech to the crowd after the declaration was made thanking his family and friends for supporting him over the past six weeks.
Mr Penrose then gave a speech on behalf of all candidates standing in the seat, to thank Mr Aldridge for a clean fair fight, and congratulated him on winning.
Dan Aldridge spoke to the Weston Mercury saying: "Across the UK, there has been toxicity in the campaign trials" and that he is 'grateful' for a relatively positive campaign.
He added his party feels they have an "agenda to fix what has been broken and to get the country back on its feet and having a strong majority, a strong mandate in Parliament is is just gonna make that so much more impactful".
He added: "My entire family is here. You know my my step kids go to Worle school, my sister's a nurse at the general (hospital).
"There is an authenticity to me standing here. The one way that I really want to make the change here is by having constant conversations with people and being accessible and being visible and consultative."
Mr Penrose had served as a member of parliament for Weston-super-Mare since 2005.
In 2019, John Penrose was elected with a majority of 17,121 and turnout was 67.71 per cent.
The election count took place at Hutton Moor Leisure Centre in Weston super-Mare on Friday (July 5). Both the North Somerset and Weston counts took place here.
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