THERE was little surprise that both Conservatives MPs in Bournemouth were returned comfortably as the blue tide swept the country.

Indeed how could they not when the party was taking seats like Blyth, Workington, Darlington and dozens of others up and down the country?

In Bournemouth East, former defence and foreign minister, Tobias Ellwood polled 24,926 votes ahead of Labour challenger Corrie Drew with 16,120.

The former army captain was first elected in 2005.

Meanwhile in Bournemouth West, Conor Burns, a close confidante of Boris Johnson, topped the vote with 24,550 with Labour’s David Stokes chalking up 14,400.

Mr Ellwood said: “We now have a sense of purpose to take the country forward and represent Bournemouth at Westminster.

"We have a wonderful town.”

Mr Burns, who is trade minister added: “This gives us our first decent majority since Margaret Thatcher.

“For three and a half years we have had a government with no effective working majority.

“This will give us, to coin an old phrase, a strong and stable administration to give that certainty the country has been crying out for for so long.”

He said: “The election is a personal victory for the Prime Minister, Boris Johnson.”

Simon Bull Green candidate for Bournemouth West said: “We have had a very good campaign locally with lots of support around the constituency, for the Greens, for the climate emergency which is fundamentally, this is the main issue we face today.

“We’ve had lots of support but we were never really in the running to take the seat.”

Bournemouth Labour Party chairman Patrick Canavan said as the evening unfolded: “The knives are already out for Jeremy Corbyn.”

He added: “When you have been involved in a lot of campaigns you like to think you get a feel for what is going on but this has been a bit of a shock.”

Cllr Bob Lawton, leader of the Conservative group on Bournemouth said Mr Ellwood was a popular local MP and had run an excellent campaign.

Turnout in Bournemouth East was 66.73 per cent with 49,464 votes cast and in Bournemouth West it was 62.24 percent.

◾️This was the first general election overseen by the new BCP Council and its chief executive, Graham Farrant as returning officer.

Five seats were counted, the two in Bournemouth, Poole, Mid Dorset and Christchurch,

The first result was not declared until 430am, after hundreds of others has already come through nationally.

Hundreds of staff were involved at the polling stations and the count.

The BCP area has 349,402 registered voters.

Results

Bournemouth East

Ben Aston 447

Corrie Drew, Labour 16,120

Philip Dunn, Lib Dem 5,418

Tobias Ellwood, Conservative 24,926

Emma Johnson, Independent 314

Alasdair Keddie, Green 2,049

Bournemouth West

Simon Bull, Green, 2,096

Conor Burns, Conservative 24,550

Jon Nicholas, Lib Dems, 4,931

David Stokes, Labour 14,400