Kentish Express Ashford & District
Damian Green makes
Conservative Damian Green held his seat as Ashford’s MP in last week’s general election.
The re-elected MP won last Thursday’s parliamentary election by gaining 35,318 votes – giving him a majority of 17,478 over the second placed Labour candidate.
The result was announced following the count at the Stour Centre just before 3am on Friday.
The results saw Mr Green secure more than 5,000 extra votes compared to the 2015 election where he received 30,094 votes.
His nearest rival was Labour candidate Sally Gathern with 17,840 votes, showing an increase in party popularity in Ashford since the 2015 election, in which former Labour candidate Brendan Chilton got 10,580 votes.
The Liberal Democrat’s Adrian Gee-Turner received 3,101 votes, followed by Ukip’s Gerald O’Brien with 2,218 and the Green party’s Mandy Rossi with 1,402.
The overall turnout was 68.69%, which was slightly up on the 2015 turnout of 67.58%.
It is Mr Green’s sixth term as Ashford’s MP for Ashford, and he has now held the seat for 20 years.
He said: “I’m absolutely delighted to have won again.
“It’s the sixth time I’ve fought Ashford and we got 58% of the vote which is the highest percentage I’ve ever had.
“I’m really grateful to the people in Ashford for voting for me one more time.”
Talking about what he thought secured the win, he said: “I think it’s obviously a combination of the national campaign and I can’t hide now, I’ve been the MP for 20 years.
‘People know me. They can either like or dislike the way I do the job’
“People know me. They can either like or dislike the way I do the job, so it’s obviously very gratifying that nearly 60% of people voted for me, so I’m hugely grateful for that.”
He went on to thank both the counters on the night for their speed in delivering the result, and also the police: “Not just because they do a great job – but particularly in current circumstances – when it’s really important that we can hold a democratic election that doesn’t get disrupted by anyone. All across the country we’ve held a peaceful democratic election with 10s of millions of people.”
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