Rutley strengthens grip with convincing victory
DAVID Rutley won back his Macclesfield seat with an increased majority on a busy General Election night.
The town remained true to its blue roots as the Conservative began his second term as Macclesfield MP after retaining the seat with 26,063 votes – 52.5pc of the votes.
This is a majority of 14,811 votes, increasing his majority of 11,959 in 2010.
The win continued the Tories’ hold in the town, which has been Conservative since 1918.
Mr Rutley thanked the people of Macclesfield for his second term, as the result was announced at the count at Macclesfield Leisure Centre.
He said: “It’s a huge honour.
“One of the things I’ll be focusing on is to build on the successes we’ve seen with the economy, to provide more jobs and create opportunities for all people, to enable social mobility.
“There are many local priorities – revitalising the town centre, taking for- ward the Poynton Relief Road, making sure our green belt is protected and bringing superfast broadband to our rural communities.
“Nationally, on this historic day, I look forward to taking forward a Conservative agenda, one that will enable us to build on our economic strengths, making sure the northern powerhouse becomes a reality, also, making sure there’s a fair settlement for all nations in the UK and enabling the people in this country to have their say on our relationship with the European Union.”
Around 100 people worked through the night counting ballot papers from polling stations across Macclesfield.
The result finally came at around 8.40am.
Mr Rutley’s win came as the Conservatives smashed poll predictions to give them a majority government.
Mr Rutley said: “People recognise the economy is on an important course and they were worried about the alternative, the prospect of a Labour, SNP alliance.”
Tim Roca from Labour came second with 11,252 votes and it was a good night for UKIP, with Adrian Howard winning 6,037 votes.
The Liberal Democrats slipped into fourth with Neil Christian winning 3,842 votes and the Green Party’s Joan Plimmer had 2,404 votes.
Turnout was higher than first thought at 69.51pc, a total of 49,598 votes. There were 248 spoiled ballot papers.
‘It’s a huge honour’