Anneliese Dodds got a warm welcome from voters in Oxford East despite her party's national disappointment.

When she won the seat at the 2017 general election, she polled 35,118 votes and this time round she got 28,135. 

READ AGAIN: General election 2019: results from across Oxfordshire

Mother-of-two Ms Dodds has been cycling around her constituency in the cold and rain to knock on doors. 

Oxford Mail:

She said following the count at St Aldate’s Church that she was delighted and thanked her team for their efforts.

But she added that it was now time for Labour to reflect on why it had suffered such a bad result and learn from it.

ALSO READ: Oxford West and Abingdon 'does not want to get Brexit done' says victorious Layla Moran

Oxford Mail:

Referring to the other candidates she said: “I am very pleased that we interacted with each other in a good natured way - we did have differences of opinion but we expressed those with respect.

READ MORE: Former MP says Brexit was 'toxic' for Labour

“I have to say that unlike the positive discussions we have had in Oxford during this election campaign overall the election has been a divisive and polarised one - I am obviously devastated that the election has returned a very bad result for Labour.

READ MORE: Conservative MP honoured to hold Witney seat

“As a party we need to reflect on why we have had such a bad result and we need to learn from it.”Oxford Mail:

Ms Dodds added that the decision regarding the leadership of the Labour Party was ‘to a large degree’ in the hands of the membership.

Conservative candidate Louise Staite came second.

Oxford Mail:

She said: “Boris Johnson’s majority government will get Brexit done so that as a country we can come together and move on and I couldn’t be more delighted.”

In third place was Alistair Fernie for the Liberal Democrats.

READ MORE: St Aldate's Church steps in to host general election count

He said: “Ultimately this was a national election and the national picture overshadowed what we tried to do locally.”

READ MORE: Conservatives hold Wantage constituency

Mr Fernie added that his time on the campaign trail was a pleasant one.

He said: “It was a fair experience - there were no dirty tricks and no negative campaigning.”

Oxford Mail:

Roger Carter, candidate for The Brexit Party, who has run his own businesses in the UK and the United States, said voters had listened when he was out on the campaign trail.

He added: “There were one or two people who said ‘no thank you’ and closed the door but otherwise people were very receptive.

“They were very angry with politicians generally and lots of Labour supporters were saying ‘I can’t vote for Corbyn’.

READ AGAIN: General election 2019: live results

“People are sick of the last three years and they want things to change.

Oxford Mail:

“People’s trust in politicians has gone and it has to be returned.”

Ballot boxes for the Oxford East count arrived at Oxford Town Hall in St Aldate’s shortly after polls closed at 10pm before they were delivered to St Aldate’s Church a short distance away. 

The votes polled were as follows: 
Phil Taylor (independent): 118
Chaka Artwell (independent): 143
David Henwood (independent): 238
Roger Carter (Brexit Party): 1,146
David Williams (Green) 2,392
Alistair Fernie (Liberal Democrats): 6,884
Louise Staite (Conservatives): 10,303
Anneliese Dodds (Labour) 28,135
Turnout was 63 per cent.

*An earlier version of this article said Ms Dodds had increased her majority - this is incorrect; the majority actually reduced from 23,284 in 2017 to 17,832 this year. We apologise for the confusion