THE Conservatives held the South Dorset seat.

Conservative Party candidate Richard Drax saw off the challenge of Labour's Tashi Warr, Liberal Democrat candidate Howard Legg and Green Jon Orrell.

The Conservatives won a total of 29,135 votes, while Labour came second on 17,440 votes, followed by the Liberal Democrats on 3,053 votes and the Greens on 2,278 votes.

Mr Drax, said: “I know there were many thousands who didn’t vote Conservative but I will do my best without fear or favour for everyone.”

This is now the third time Mr Drax has won the seat for the Conservatives, first taking it from Labour’s Jim Knight in 2010.

Mr Orrell said: “I am glad we have given people the opportunity to vote for what they believe in.

"We don’t know what the complete national picture is, but looking at things so far it seems that Theresa May made a colossal mistake in calling this election."

All the boxes for the South Dorset count were verified by 00.52am, with a provisional turnout figure of 71.9 per cent, up nearly four per cent from 2015, when turnout was 68.1 per cent.

Leader of Weymouth and Portland Borough Council, Jeff Cant, said Mr Drax had been “well received on the doorstep” and was “very dedicated to the community.”

However, Cllr Cant was critical of the Conservative’s national campaign.

He said: “The manifesto for me has been disappointing.”

He added that there had been “too much focus on Brexit” by the Conservatives and that Jeremy Corbyn had “picked up on some open goals.”