Peter Bottomley keeps Worthing West seat

The Conservative parliamentary candidate secured another four years in Westminster after an easy win last night (Thursday).

Mr Bottomley, a former minister, won 21,383 votes, 47 per cent of the total cast. Turnout this year was 62 per cent. Liberal Democrat candidate Claire Potter came second with 12,004 votes, 26.7 per cent of the vote.

Mr Bottomley thanked voters, fellow candidates and The Herald for its coverage in a fairly contested fight.

He said: "It was a very decent campaign. We can all take pride in giving people a real choice. The turnout has been improved on previous years and the majority is just as good.

"People sometimes criticised the media but nobody can complain that their coverage has been biased and I look forward to serving another term."

Mr Bottomley's wife, former MP Virginia, held her husband's hand as his margin was announced to an expectant crowd at the Assembly Hall in Stoke Abbott Road.

She said: "At Westminster, Peter is known for his integrity and independence over and beyond party politics. I am pleased people understand the importance of Parliament and the significance of protecting our democracy. Peter is a great campaigner for that."

Mr Bottomley kept his seat in 2001 with 47.5 per cent of the vote with the Liberal Democrats coming second with 26.5 per cent

For the full story, and details of Mr Bottomley's game of Top Trumps with a Herald reporter while he waited for the results of the count and other election stories, don't miss Thursday's Worthing Herald (May 12).

The results were:

Peter Bottomley, Conservative 21,383, 47.6 per cent

Claire Potter, Liberal Democrat 12,004 26.7, per cent

Antony Bignell, Labour 8,630 19.2, per cent.

Timothy Cross, UK Independence Party 2,374, 5.3 per cent

Chris Baldwin, , LCA, 550, 1.2 per cent.

Conservative majority: 9,379

All the results, including those from the county council elections, can be found under the News and General Election 2005 drop down headings at the top of this page.