BARKER HOLDS BEXHILL AND BATTLE

The Conservative candidate held on to his position with a total of 24,629 votes at last night's General Election.

Tension filled Bexhill Leisure Centre as the results were announced at 3.45am by acting returning officer Derek Stevens.

Liberal Democrat Mary Varrall gathered 11,180 votes, Michael Jones, of the Labour Party, received 8,457 and UKIP candidate Tony Smith got 2,568 votes.

67.7% of the electorate in the constituency turned out to vote - some 47,027 electors out of a total of 69,450. This was an increase in turnout from 64.89% in 2001.

But of the 9,100 voters who applied for postal votes in Bexhill and Battle, some 4,000 decided not to return their voting paper.

The ballot boxes were rushed to the centre after the polling ended at 10pm although one box was delayed after election assistants were delayed after being diverted around a car accident in the Ticehurst area.

Five teams of 12 people then started work separating the general election votes from the county council votes before beginning the count at around 2am.

Mr Barker was delighted to have kept his seat - and increased his majority from 10,503 in 2001 to 13,449 in 2005.

He said: "The first time I was taken on trust and now I am delighted to have a ringing endorsement of my record as MP.

"There are still a lot of challenges for our community but I am determined to strive to do the very best I can."

RESULTS:

* GREGORY BARKER (Con) - 24,629

* MARY VARRALL (Lib Dem) - 11,180

* MICHAEL JONES (Lab) - 8,457

* TONY SMITH (UKIP) - 2,568