Conservative John Baron has won the Basildon and Billericay seat, taking 29,590 votes and fighting off his Labour rival by almost 20,000 votes.

Labour’s Andrew Gordon earned 9,178 of the votes, while Liberal Democrat Edward Sainsbury came in with 3,741.

Green Party candidate Stewart Goshawk took 1,395 votes, followed by Social Democrat Simon Breedon with 224.

After the results were announced, Mr Baron said: “I am absolutely delighted and it is a great honour to represent the people of Basildon and Billericay once again.

“I have thanked all the electorate who have continued to back me through out this campaign.

“Being in parliament is about public service and being a good member of parliament.

“We’ve got to get a good trade deal for Brexit and there is every reason this can be done.”

Turnout was 63.48 per cent across the constituency and the total number of votes cast was 44,128.

During a speech on stage after the declaration, Mr Baron said Brexit can be done in 2020 and thanked his supporters and voters.

He said his majority shows the public want Brexit sorted very soon.

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Basildon has been a Conservative seat since changes to the boundary in 2010 meant it took in the more affluent area of Billericay.

The change saw Mr Baron win over Labour’s Angela Smith and he has held the seat for the past nine years.

Mr Baron has also given his backing to PM Boris Johnson’s Brexit EU withdrawal agreement after voting against Theresa May’s deal three times.

Reiterating his support for the PM’s Brexit deal, Mr Baron said the people know “we need to get Brexit done” and that “we needed a Conservative back in Parliament”.

The seat was created for the 2010 general election following a review of the Parliamentary representation of Essex by the Boundary Commission for England.

It combined parts of the separate, now abolished, Basildon and Billericay constituencies.