BATLEY & SPEN: New area wins backing from MP

Victorious Labour candidate Mike Wood took 21,565 votes, with the Tory candidate, former Fleet Street journalist Janice Small, in second place with 17,159.

Mr Wood said his priority would be to improve services and the lives of people in Heckmondwike, a new part of his re-drawn constituency. The town has typically been a stronghold for Labour and the BNP.

He said the town – a stronghold for both Labour and the BNP – had been neglected for quite some time.

And he thanked opponents for "making it a clean fight" and added: "I'm honoured the people of Batley and Spen have put their trust in me again."

Batley and Spen was considered to be a marginal seat between Labour and the Conservatives, who placed it at 135 on their list of target seats.

David Cameron campaigned in the constituency earlier this month when he visited Birkenshaw to address hundreds of parents and children whose appeal for a new 900-place secondary school was rejected by the Government.

Since 1997 the seat has been held by Mr Wood. The last Tory to hold the seat was Elizabeth Peacock, who lost to Labour in 1997. This time Tory candidate Ms Small won backing from the United Kingdom Independence Party because of her eurosceptic views.

Lib Dem candidate, 36-year-old father of three Neil Bentley, a solicitor who lives locally in Gomersal, polled 8,095 votes.

The BNP's David Exley, a former Kirklees councillor, polled 3,685 votes.

This year saw a modest rise in the proportion of voters who voted. In 2005 it was 62 per cent, this time it was almost 67 per cent.