Kettering stays blue as Hollobone increases majority

Philip Hollobone addresses the crowd after retaining his seat. Picture by David Jackson. | jpimedia

Philip Hollobone has been elected as Kettering's MP for the fifth consecutive time.

There were jubilant scenes as the Conservative Brexiter won by a whopping 16,765 votes - increasing his majority by more than 6,000.

Labour's Clare Pavitt came second but saw her party's vote share drop by 10 per cent as the Liberal Democrats doubled their tally.

Independent Jim Hakewill and Green candidate Jamie Wildman lost their deposits, coming fourth and fifth respectively.

Conservative campaigners celebrate the win. Picture by David Jackson. | jpimedia

Results:

Philip Hollobone (Con) 29,787 votes

Clare Pavitt (Lab) 13,022 votes

Chris Nelson (Lib Dem) 3,367 votes

Hollobone increased his majority by thousands. Picture by David Jackson. | jpimedia

Jim Hakewill (Ind) 1,642 votes

Jamie Wildman (Green) 1,543 votes

Kettering was the first seat in Northamptonshire to declare at an earlier than expected time of 1.25am. Turnout was 67.7 per cent, down from the 2017 election.