LibDem Jeremy Browne has won the Taunton Deane seat in the General Election.

Mr Browne held his seat with a majority of 4,000 votes over Conservative candidate Mark Formosa after a fierce election battle.

It is the first time a political party has successfully defended the Taunton constituency since David Nicholson kept the seat in Tory hands in 1992.

The result was announced at about 2.50am by returning officer Penny James, chief executive of Taunton Deane Council, at the count at Blackbrook Pavilion, Taunton.

Taunton Deane Constituency General Election Result:

  • Jeremy Browne (LibDem) 28,531 votes.
  • Mark Formosa (Conservative) 24,538 votes.

Mr Browne told the County Gazette: "I'm feeling elated. I'm very grateful to the people in Taunton Deane who voted to me.

"I will do my absolute best to serve everybody in this constituency.

"I'm thrilled to be endorsed by people in this area.

"I have tried to be a hands-on, successful hard working MP for the area. I have tried to represent the mainstream values and priorities of people living in Taunton Deane."

Mr Formosa said: "I'm disappointed.

"We made up a lot of lost ground and almost hit 25,000 votes."

But he said the Tories lost out because the Labour and UKIP votes collapsed and his party had not benefited from that.

He added: "Whoever fights Taunton Deane next time will have a different scenario."

Mr Formosa said he was not going to rush into a quick decision about his future.

Mr Jevon said: "It could have been a lot worse - we retained our deposit.

"I'm happy that Jeremy Browne continues in his role - he's been a really good MP.

"It was always going to be difficult for Labour here."

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For our interactive General Election results service - including results from the Bridgwater and West Somerset Constituency, and the Somerton and Frome seat - click on the Related Link below.

To watch the candidates' speeches in full, click on the Related Link below.