ON a night when many familiar Conservative faces crashed and burned, Maldon MP Sir John Whittingdale came through to hold the seat he has occupied since 1992.

 Sir John was re-elected with 19,374 votes though he was pushed hard by Reform candidate Pamela Walford who took second place with 12,468 votes.

After the poll  Sir John thanked local people for their support but described it as a "terrible night" for the Tories.

He said: "I'm immensely grateful the people of the Maldon constituency have asked me to continue.

"This has been the most difficult campaign I have fought, and it has been a terrible night for my party.

"I will need to go away with my colleagues to think very hard about the way forward."

He described Tory leader Rishi Sunak's decision to call the election as a "tactical error".

The full result:

BURWOOD, Simon John Liberal Democrats 5,882

DOUBLEDAY, Isobel Jean Campbell Green Party 2,300

GOLLO, Onike Labour 9,817

WALFORD, Pamela Kay Reform UK 12,468

WHITTINGDALE, John Flasby Lawrance Conservative Party 19,374

Turnout: 63.92%

The result represents a 33.4% drop in the Conservative vote share since the 2019 election, the lowest vote share Sir John has received since first being elected.