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Canterbury held by Tories

by Adam Williams

awilliams@thekmgroup.co.uk

Julian
Brazier has been re-elected as MP for Canterbury and Whitstable,
but with a reduced majority.

The Conservative candidate, who has
served the constituency since 1987, was returned to Westminster on
Friday morning with a majority of just over 6,000.

A surge in the polls by the Liberal
Democrats saw their candidate Guy Voizey finish a creditable
second, while Labour, represented by Jean Samuel, saw their vote
plummet compared with 2005.

But Julian Brazier’s winning speech
was overshadowed by heckling from the a member of the audience, who
shouted, "this election was set up from the beginning" and "money
to the masses" before he was escorted from the Westgate Hall by
door staff.

Brushing off the disturbance, Mr
Brazier congratulated his fellow candidates on "a good clean
fight".

He said: "I’m very pleased, it was
a good result reflecting lots of hard work by my party workers
across the constituency.

"I feel very honoured that the
people of Canterbury and Whitstable have chosen me again."

Setting out his priorities for the
constituency in the years ahead, he added: "We need jobs here for
young people, we have got to tackle anti-social behaviour and
social breakdown.

"Added to that, we have got to get
more power devolved to local level, so our excellent local council
can make more decisions, like the number of houses we need to
build, instead of them being imposed on them by central government
and the regions."

Whitstable father and Liberal
Democrat candidate Guy Voizey, who polled just over 16,000 votes,
was delighted with his party’s performance.

He said: "We have done really well
and established ourselves as the clear alternative to the
Conservatives. That bodes really well for next year’s local
elections.

"We have campaigned on local issues that have really struck a
chord with people right across the constituency, not just in
Canterbury and Whitstable, but in the rural areas as well."

For full election coverage see our election special
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