Conservative William Wragg has won his third overall General Election after beating off a relatively close challenge from the Liberal Democrats to secure another five years in parliament.
It has come at the price of a severely decreased majority of over 1,000 votes in Hazel Grove.
The Liberal Democrats increased their share of the vote by 5.9% as compared to the 2017 General Election, which was not enough to beat the Conservatives slight vote increase of 3.3%.
Labour’s vote percentage fell 8% this time around with Hazel Grove firmly a two-horse race between Wragg and Lisa Smart of the Liberal Democrats.
The majority for Mr Wragg came to 4,423 in the end in a contest the Lib Dems had hoped to have challenged very closely for when the election was first called.
Wragg in his victory speech did not just look into the future but reflected on his time in parliament up to now.
He told MM: “On Wednesday this week I celebrated my birthday and I didn’t think that by the age of 32 I would have fought and indeed won three general elections.”
“What I look forward to now is being able to deliver on the 2016 referendum in which my constituency voted to leave and to also get on with a strong domestic agenda.”
The Liberal Democrats had targeted this seat as a potential gain for them, and while they did not get right over the line, they were not far off.
Meanwhile, Smart told MM: “I am ferociously proud of my team I could not be more proud of them we fought a phenomenal campaign.”
“It wasn’t enough sadly to get more votes than the Conservatives in a case of what is clearly a good night for the Tories and a less good night for the Lib Dems.”
When asked about his first reaction to the exit poll Wragg, told us he was “pleasantly surprised” and no one could have said they saw it coming.
On the debate whether this election is a Brexit election, he said: “I think the majority of people are fair minded to accept the outcomes of democratic events and I think that has reflected in seats like Hazel Grove.”
“The issues we faced over the last couple of years because we’ve not had a majority in parliament, politics at that level is a numbers game, and if one faction pulls it in one direction one will pull it in another.
“I think that having a majority will enable us to have a far smoother parliamentary time and actually start delivering more for the people of this country.”
Away from just the result of the night we asked what is next for him and his party now that the results are in.
He revealed: “Next for me is to repay the trust that has been placed in me by my constituents and to deliver those things that I’ve been delivering on locally; like the stepping hill hospital, the increases to school funding, additional recruitment of police officers, and protecting our green belt.”
“To focus on those issues that are widespread concerns.”
The Labour party was unavailable for a comment at this time.
