Robert Courts kept his Conservative seat and stronghold for the Witney constituency in a crushing defeat for Rosa Bolger and the Labour party.

Mr Courts was first elected in the by-election in October 2016, and was then re-elected in the 2017 General Election.

The Witney seat was the only one in the whole of Oxfordshire where only the three long-term major political parties were the ones standing.

Upon retaining his position as MP, Mr Courts said: “I remain committed to the issues that matter to local residents.

“It is a massive honour to be voted in the area I love and that is my home.

“Thank you to the people of Witney for returning me again, I’m incredibly honoured to be in this position and will do my best to get out and about and listen to the people of Witney.

“It is a huge honour to make a difference in this town.”

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Mr Courts was in jovial mood following his re-election and said he was “looking forward to seeing a bit of my young family over Christmas.”

He added that he was then looking forward to getting back to work in the new year.

He added that he was still committed to tackling the key issues that got him elected - education, health services and transport.

With the national Conservative victory not yet announced but looking more and more likely as the night went on, Mr Courts said: “We now have the ability to move this country forward and end the division.”

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Mr Courts thanked his parents, wife and children, and his campaign team and volunteers from all parties.

He also paid thanks to the the counting staff for their “smooth running of the evening.”

The results were announced just after 3am at the Windrush Leisure Centre, following the counting of votes from 89 polling stations in West Oxfordshire.

The number of votes Mr Courts received remained remarkably steady - going from 33,839 in the 2017 General Election to 33,856 this year.

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The turnout itself also showed no sign of dramatic change with a 73.5% turnout in this year’s election, compared to the 73.6% turnout two years ago.

Ian Galletley, Mr Courts’ election agent and a veteran of almost fifty years of elections himself, said: “A seat like this is just a dream for me.

“It’s a new experience having always been in marginal seats.

“I’m very much looking forward to working with Robert.

“I’m very impressed by his workrate, I cannot fault his dedication, he’s the most conscientious man. He literally knocked on thousands of doors.”

James Mills, Conservative leader of West Oxfordshire District Council, said ahead of the announcement: “It will be interesting to see what happens locally tonight especially with just the three candidates.

“We don’t know where the Green and Independent votes will go.

“The exit polls look good for the Conservatives but they things can still go both ways.”