CONSERVATIVE candidate Nadhim Zahawi has held his seat as Stratford’s MP with a majority of almost 23,000.
Mr Zahawi increased his share from the 2010 election securing around 58 per cent (29,674) of the votes.
Edward Fila of the UK Independence Party (UKIP) managed to better his 2010 predecessor Brett Parsons by coming second with (6,798) votes but was still unable to topple Mr Zahawi.
Labour’s Jeff Kenner came in third with 6,677 votes while the Liberal Democrat candidate, Elizabeth Adams, came fourth with 6,182 votes – a fall on the party’s 2010 result where they placed second overall.
Elsewhere Dominic Giles, of the Green Party, picked up the remaining 2,128 votes.
Turnout was high as 72.4 per cent of the 70,914 people registered to vote in the district made it to the polls – a marginal decrease on the 72.8 per cent from the last election.
Speaking after the declaration Mr Zahawi said he was delighted to have won and more than doubled his majority since 2010.
Thanking his campaign team, his wife and family and those who voted for him, he said his priorities would be to tackle traffic issues in the town and get a robust planning policy in place.
In addition to the General Election, residents have also been voting to elect new members to Stratford District Council.
The number of seats on the authority has been slashed from 53 to just 36 following an electoral review with more than 150 people putting their hat in the ring to contest the available seats.
And the Conservatives had even more reason to be cheerful after they managed to scoop 31 of the seats up for grabs.
For a full report see next week’s paper.
Final Results for Stratford-on-Avon constituency
Nadhim ZAHAWI (Cons) – 29,674 votes
Edward FILA (UKIP) – 6,798 votes
Jeff KENNER (Lab) – 6,677 votes
Elizabeth ADAMS (Lib Dem) – 6,182 votes
Dominic GILES (Green) – 2,128 votes
Turnout: 72.3 per cent
