EAST Hampshire saw the highest General Election turnout in 20 years last Thursday, with Conservative candidate Damian Hinds retaining his seat in Parliament with 63.6 per cent of the vote.

A total of 55,567 votes were cast, equating to a turnout of 75.3 per cent – the highest in the district since 1997. It was significantly higher than the national turnout, which rose by two per cent to 69 per cent.

In 1997, while the Tories held East Hampshire, what was expected to be a national endorsement for the Conservatives resulted in a surprise Labour landslide.

This time round the Conservatives were confident of an easy passage but were again surprised at the result. Despite an increase of five-and-a-half per cent to win with a 42.4 per cent share of the vote, they lost 13 seats, dropping from 331 to 318 and falling short of the 326 seats needed to form a majority government, which resulted in a hung parliament.

The Tories are expected to form a minority government with the Democratic Unionist Party.

Labour was unable to repeat the level of success achieved in 1997 but it did take 40 per cent of the vote share, gaining an additional 30 seats to win 262 of the 650 seats available.

In Hampshire East, Damian Hinds received 35,263 votes to gain a convincing win, increasing his share of the vote by three per cent. Behind him was Rohit Dasgupta, who increased Labour’s standing, based on 2015 figures, by 6.9 per cent to poll 9,411 votes (17%).

Liberal Democrat, Richard Robinson polled 8,403 (up 4.1% to 15.2%); Green candidate Richard Knight attracted 1,760 votes (down 3% on 2015), while Susan Jerrard polled 571 votes for the Justice and Anti-Corruption Party.

The election, run in this area by East Hampshire District Council (EHDC), saw 72 polling stations manned around the district in schools, village halls and pubs.

For those who couldn’t make it to the polling stations, more than 13,000 postal votes were issued.

Teams of counters, around 60 in all, worked through the night at Petersfield Festival Hall to verify and count the votes, with the declaration being made by returning officer and district council chief executive Sandy Hopkins at 3.30am on Friday morning.

She said: “The turnout for this election has been really good and that’s what it’s all about – getting residents to have their say about how their country is run.

“When the election was announced the team at East Hampshire District Council sprang into action and pulled out all the stops to ensure the day ran smoothly. This has taken a tremendous amount of work and I am really proud of everyone involved.

“We always do everything we can to encourage residents to vote and this year we’ve run several social media campaigns to boost numbers, so I’m really pleased that the turnout was so high.”

In the Winchester constituency, which includes Alresford, Steve Brine retained his seat for the Conservatives with 29,729 votes (52%) ahead of Liberal Democrat Jackie Porter, who increased her share of the vote by 10.1 per cent to poll 19,730 votes (34.5%) and Labour candidate Mark Chaloner with 6,007 (11.7%).

In thanking all those who voted for him and the Conservative party on Thursday, Mr Hinds said: “The East Hampshire result was a good one for the Conservatives, with our share of the vote up a little on 2015.

“The election here was fought passionately but always positively and with mutual respect from all parties.

“I pay tribute to all the candidates – Rohit Dasgupta, who fought a strong and effective local campaign for Labour, Richard Robinson, Richard Knight and Susan Jerrard.

“It was very encouraging to see the local turnout once again above the national average, and the highest here for two decades.”

Mr Hinds will retain his position as Minister of Employment.