Damien wins Southport for Tories as Boris turns England blue

Veteran Southport journalist Martin Hovden writes: Damien Moore has retained his Southport seat for the Conservatives with an increased majority of more than 4,000.

Labour’s Liz Savage came second but with a boost to her vote share, while Liberal Democrat John Wright trailed in last place with a much reduced number of votes.

Mr Moore (pictured) won 22,914 votes (up from 18,541 in 2017) with Liz Savage on 18,767 (up from 15,627) with Mr Wright on 6,499 (down from 12,661).

These are the Southport results (with share of vote in brackets) declared just after 2.30am:

CONSERVATIVE DAMIEN MOORE 22,914 (47.6%)

LABOUR LIZ SAVAGE 18,767 (39%)

LIBERAL DEMOCRAT JOHN WRIGHT 6,499 (13.5%)

Turnout: 68% (down 1% on the 2017 result)

Mr Moore’s victory in Southport was accompanied by huge gains for the Tories in many parts of England – especially the Midlands and the North – and Wales.

And at 5.06am this morning the Conservatives were officially declared the winners after passing the finishing line of 326 seats. The BBC is predicting they will end the day with a majority of 74 in the House of Commons.

This large majority will allow Prime Minister Boris Johnson to “Get Brexit Done” – a policy backed by Damien Moore – with senior Tories stressing they want the Brexit Bill passed in the Commons before Christmas, as a prelude to the UK leaving the EU on January 31.

Unless the Fixed Term Parliament Act is abolished, Mr Moore will be Southport’s MP for the next five years.

But he will have Labour snapping at his heels. Liz Savage has achieved remarkable success in recent years, taking Labour from being a poor third in elections to turning our town into a straight two-horse race between them and the Tories – at the cost of the Lib Dems, many of whom are now voting tactically for Labour.

The collapse of the Lib Dem vote puts the final nail in the coffin of the Lib Dem parliamentary dynasty in Southport which was once headed by former MPs Ronnie Fearn and John Pugh. And the loss of party leader Jo Swinson in the early hours adds to the view they are now a spent force.

The big question for Southport Labour Party is do they stay loyal to party leader Jeremy Corbyn. They are very proud of the fact Mr Corbyn has visited the resort several times, but he is being blamed by many for Labour’s downfall nationally, along with his neutral stance on Labour’s promised new Brexit deal.

Will they remain Corbynistas?

Mr Corbyn gave a strong hint last night that he will stand down as leader after the party has a “period of reflection”.