LEEDS NORTH EAST: Delight as Hamilton fights off challenge

Labour MP Fabian Hamilton was returned to the Leeds North East seat for the fourth time, increasing his total number of votes while securing a reduced majority of around 4,500 ahead of his Conservative opponent.

The Leeds North East constituency is one of the most diverse in the region, taking in the terraced streets of Chapeltown and the upwardly-mobile suburbs of Moortown and Chapel Allerton as well as more rural areas to the north of the city.

The Tories believed a majority of 6,700 coupled with Mr Hamilton's embroilment in last year's expenses scandal might have left the Labour MP vulnerable to a Conservative surge.

But what Mr Hamilton called "one of the best results of the evening" saw him returned with just over 20,000 votes.

"It has been the greatest privilege of my life to serve for 13 years – and now I hope for a while longer, depending on when the next election actually comes," he said.

"To serve the people of Leeds North East to the best of my ability, to concentrate on the issues and not be diverted by irrelevances.

"To ensure we dealt with the poverty people faced, the problems people brought up day in day out. Whether it's poverty of children or of pensioners, the Labour Government has achieved so much in these last 13 years, and I'm really proud of that."

Mr Hamilton admitted he had been through "a difficult time" but said it was now important to focus on the most pressing issues of the day.

"I hope in the coming years and the coming months, we ensure that at the top of our agenda is to prevent climate change – to ensure we put the environment into every single policy, whoever's in Government," he said.

His Tory opponent Matt Lobley – who also lost to Mr Hamilton in 2005 – put a brave face on his defeat.

"Obviously I'm disappointed at losing out, but I must pass on my congratulations to my opponent.

"We've actually had quite a strong result in Leeds North East with another 2,400 votes."