PUDSEY: Winner enjoying the view after climbing a mountain to victory

Jubilant Tory candidate Stuart Andrew claimed his party were now "back in the North of England" after winning the crucial seat of Pudsey with an impressive 7.6 per cent swing from Labour.

Pudsey had been a Conservative stronghold for nearly 50 years before Labour stormed to victory there in 1997.

But after 13 years on the sidelines, a major push from the Tories saw them reclaim the town with a narrow majority of 1,671.

There were loud cheers from the floor as Mr Andrew told his supporters: "This is a wonderful result for the Conservative Party, and shows that we are back in the North of England.

"I'm absolutely thrilled. We knew from the start we had a mountain to climb – we hadn't made any inroads in the last couple of elections, so this was our chance and, with a lot of hard work, we've done it."

The prospective MP had faced a daunting Labour majority of around 5,000 heading into Thursday's poll, and later told the Yorkshire Post he was not surprised by the tight margin of his victory.

"I always knew it was going to be close," he said.

"When we had those mid-term large opinion poll leads I knew that they weren't real.

"From going round on the doorsteps I knew that a lot of people were still undecided, so there was everything to play for.

"A lot of people were angry with the Labour Government and didn't want another five years of Gordon Brown. But also we ran a very positive campaign and I think people reacted

to that."

Mr Andrew, who has been a Tory member of Leeds City Council for several years, was revealed during the campaign

to have briefly sat as a Labour councillor in Wales many

years ago.

But voters were unswayed by this, or by a series of visits to the constituency by high-profile Labour figures – most recently Foreign Secretary David Miliband last week – and returned the seat for the Tories.

"I'm just delighted they've trusted me," Mr Andrew said. "West Yorkshire has done well for us tonight and I hope we can build on this, and that when the next election comes we can get even more."

Labour's hopes of hanging onto the Pudsey constituency – which also includes Horsforth, Calverley and Farsley, and Guiseley – had already been dented by boundary changes which reduced their estimated majority.

And their campaign suffered a major blow when popular MP Paul Truswell decided not to stand again after suffering a serious car crash last year.

His replacement as candidate, local solicitor Jamie Hanley, was magnanimous in defeat, telling his victorious opponent: "Stuart, you fought an excellent campaign. You have, if you don't mind me saying, huge shoes to fill following Paul Truswell, who has done a fantastic job as Member of Parliament for Pudsey for the past 13 years."

The Liberal Democrats also benefited from the haemorrhaging of Labour votes, finishing third but with an increased share.

Their candidate, Jamie Matthews, another Leeds city councillor, said: "It's been a good night for the Lib Dems in Pudsey – we've increased our vote by over 2,000."

There was an impressive turnout of more than 70 per cent.

It was a significant increase on the last election, which candidates suggested was a reflection of the time and effort all parties had put into the campaign for the marginal seat.

Turnout soars in battleground

The Tories won the Pudsey seat for the first time since 1997, claiming a winning margin of just 1,600 votes

They achieved a 7.5 per cent swing.

n The turn-out was unusually high, at almost 71 per cent.

The seat was targeted by leading politicians throughout the campaign, with the Foreign Secretary the most recent to visit.

Boundary changes had left Labour with an estimated majority of around 5,000

The new Tory MP was briefly a Labour politician, but returned to the fold.

Previous MP Paul Truswell had to stand down after a serious car accident.

The seat was a Tory mainstay for decades before Labour's landslide

win in 1997.