As the dust settles following a breathless and intriguing election night, we can start to reflect on what results mean for voters locally.

After some early optimism from her opponents, it soon appeared a foregone conclusion that Conservative candidate Anne Main – who has held the St Albans seat since 2005 – would maintain her grip on power.

Her supporters gathered at the front of the throng in Batchwood Sports Centre as anticipation built ahead of the declaration in the early hours of Friday morning.

 

And with the candidates assembled on the stage, a huge cheer went up as her total was revealed as 24,571 – 6,000 more than nearest rival Daisy Cooper of the Liberal Democrats.

An exhausted Main said she was pleased with the victory but said it had been “a hard 51 days of campaigning”.

“I’m very, very tired. It was a deserved victory with local people supporting us,” she added.

The Lib Dems threw a lot of resources at the seat they clearly felt they could win, with prominent party figures including Tim Farron and Norman Lamb visiting over the course of the campaign.

It was understandable then that local candidate Cooper appeared so crestfallen when the results were announced.

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In some ways though this result can be viewed as a victory for Cooper, who narrowed the gap on Main and increased her party’s share of the vote by 13.9 per cent.

Promising to come back bigger and better, Cooper said: “We’re disappointed not to win but we’ve established ourselves as the firm voice of opposition in St Albans.

“We’ve seen a big increase in our share of the vote.”

Labour’s Kerry Pollard, a seasoned campaigner who represented St Albans for eight years between 1997 and 2005, finished third with 13,137 votes but said results on the national stage boded well for his party’s future.

“I’m really encouraged, particularly pleased about the engagement of young people. They have the most to gain from where we are going,” he said.

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Commenting on his own campaign, Pollard added: “We’re disappointed but we did a very short campaign, we didn’t have enough time to get set.

“I fear there may be another election in the near future so I’ll be keeping the suit ready!”

The Green Party’s Jack Easton was defiant despite finishing last, saying he would “keep flying the Green flag here”.

There was not even the slightest chance of an upset in the Hitchin and Harpenden constituency as Conservative candidate Bim Afolami romped to victory with 31,189 votes and a 53.1 per cent share of the total number cast.

Afolami said it was “a great honour and privilege” to be selected as the area’s representative in Parliament.

He will continue the work of Peter Lilley, who has kept the constituency a firm shade of blue since its formation in 1997.