ELECTION night in Dartford saw history in the making as voters returned their Labour MP to parliament for a third term.

But it was a close fought fight with Dr Howard Stoate just 706 votes ahead of the Conservative candidate Gareth Johnson.

Dr Stoate, who polled 19,909 votes, said he had no idea who would come out on top until his agent, Geoff Prout, gave him the thumbs up just seconds before the result was declared at 4.56am.

Dr Stoate believed his tireless campaigning to halt plans which will carve up Central Park was behind his win.

Labour supporter, Derek Hill agreed: “It was the park what won it,” he declared.

But Dr Stoate, who was first elected as Dartford’s MP in 1997, saw a massive reduction in his majority - from 5,000 down to just 700.

In 1997 he received 25,278 votes. This reduced to 21,466 in 2001 and to 19,909 in 2005.

Hot on Dr Stoate’s heels was Mr Johnson who polled 19,203 votes on the night.

Dr Stoates said: "I have not slept for 24 hours and today has been incredibly stressful. This is a fantastic result for Labour and is the first time ever a Dartford MP has won three terms in Parliament.

"The result is a vindication of my campaign against the road through the park and the Conservative controlled council in Dartford has to listen to the people of this town and re-think these plans."

He added: "It was to a large extent the road that did it, but if the voters had been hell bent on a change in government they would have voted for that.

"However, a lot of people said they would not have voted at all if they were not concerned about the park."

Dr Stoate said he was looking forward to a celebratory cup of tea when he got home but denied he would be feeling lost in the morning with the campaign won and over.

"Come Monday morning there will be a new challenge to get stuck into," he said.