Stephen McPartland increased his share of the vote when he held on to his seat in Stevenage in a hotly contested race.

David Collins, UKIP – 6,864

David Cox, Independent – 67

Charles Vickers, English Democrats –115

STEPHEN MCPARTLAND, Con – 21,291

Trevor Palmer, TUSC – 175

Sharon Taylor, Lab – 16,336

Susan Van De Ven, Lib Dem – 1,582

Graham White, Green – 1,369

Turnout: (47,934) 67.7 per cent

Spoilt ballots: 127

After winning Mr McPartland said: “It was an absolutely fantastic result. We have received a very warm welcome and reception from the people of Stevenage. I plan to keep on working hard for people in the town specifically on installing a radiotherapy satellite unit at Lister Hospital, improving our schools, railways and on work to widen the A1(M).”

In second place Sharon Taylor said: “I want to firstly congratulate Stephen on his win. I was disappointed to lose but not disappointed with my campaign and want to say a huge thank you to everyone who supported me.

“There are still lots of issues in the town and I will remain as a councillor and always do everything I can to work to improve things here.”