VOTERS in Scarborough and Whitby have re-elected their Conservative MP with an increased majority.
Robert Goodwill, the constituency MP since 2005, was put back into office once more, in a seat that voted 62 per cent to leave in the 2016 referendum
Having seen his majority cut to less than 3,500 two years ago he saw off the challenge of Labour’s Hugo Fearnley to increase his majority to 10,270.
Following his victory, Mr Goodwill said the Conservatives were now the party of working people.
He said: “There has been one clear message from this election and that is ‘get Brexit done’.
“As we see the results come in from the North, North East and North West we have seen a party that refused to accept the democratic will of the people as expressed in a referendum to get Brexit done and have spent the last three years wasting time in Parliament trying to stop Brexit.
“Boris Johnson our Prime Minister is determined to get Brexit done and I will do everything I can to to help in that task.”
He said that after Brexit was done it would allow the Tories to address the NHS, adult social care and “the challenges of climate change”.
He added: “I believe now the Conservative Party is the party of working people.
“Working-class constituencies have returned Conservative MPs, the Labour party has lost them and fallen into the hands of a Marxist minority who do not represent the views of the people. They have tried to bribe people with their own money with free broadband and free everything.
“They tried to frighten them about the best thing about this country, the NHS. The NHS is safe in our hands and will never be for sale.”
Earlier in the night, Mr Fearnley had said that Labour’s Brexit policy had not got through to voters.
He said: “I have learned that nuance is quite difficult to get across on the doorstep, especially against a clear message.
“In a 62 per cent leave seat, Brexit was always going to be a big issue.”
He added that while the policy was “sensible” and looked to “respect the result” of the referendum as well as try to heal the divide between leave and remain voters, it may not have got through as well as the Tories’ slogan of “get Brexit done”.
Mr Fearnley added he was “proud” of his campaign and the way it had engaged with voters.
He said: “The people we spoke to have concerns that will not be solved by us being in or out of the EU. A lot of people raised concerns about the NHS and poverty levels locally.”
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