Cat Smith will retain her position as MP for Lancaster and Fleetwood after being elected with an increased majority, and 55.1% of the vote.
Smith was elected in the 2015 General Election, taking the seat from the Conservatives with 42% of the vote. She supported Corbyn’s campaign for leadership – and was appointed as Shadow Minister for Voter Engagement and Youth Affairs in June 2016.
The Lancaster and Fleetwood seat was contested by the Conservative candidate Eric Ollerenshaw, who was MP in 2010-2015.
He earlier expressed he was pessimistic about the seat before the result was announced.
Tory candidate Eric Ollerenshaw pessimistic about result tonight in #lancaster&fleetwood seat @BBCNWT #GE2017 pic.twitter.com/0QJIUlkHf5
— peter marshall (@pmarshall01) June 9, 2017
Smith also faced competition from Green candidate Rebecca Novell and Liberal Democrat Robin Long.
Long said in an interview with SCAN earlier in the campaign: “All credit to Cat – she’s got an office in the constituency and she’s working hard.”
The full results, with a turnout of 68.7%:
CAT SMITH (LABOUR): 25,342 (55.1%, +12.8)
ERIC OLLERENSHAW (CONSERVATIVE): 18,681 (40.6%, +1.4)
ROBIN LONG (LIBERAL DEMOCRAT): 1,170 (2.5%, -0.8)
REBECCA NOVELL (GREEN): 796 (1.7%, -3.3)
The BBC and other media are projecting that the Conservatives will be the largest party – but at this early stage it is unclear whether they will have a majority government.
