More on KentOnline
More on KentOnline
Jeremy Corbyn will not lead Labour into a future election after an awful night for the party as the Conservatives won the vote in a landslide.
Rosie Duffield, who called for Mr Corbyn's resignation, has retained what will be the only Labour seat in Kent, after extending her majority in Canterbury to 1,800, but her party will deliver its worst result for a century. Follow results from your area here.
Other than Canterbury, it is a sea of blue in Kent.
Natalie Elphicke has replaced her husband, Charlie Elphicke, as the MP for Dover and Deal, which followed wins in Folkestone and Hythe for Damian Collins and former cabinet member Damian Green in Ashford.
The Tories have also retained their seat in Sevenoaks. It will be Laura Trott's first trip to Parliament after replacing Sir Michael Fallon ahead of this campaign.
There have also been Tory victories in Chatham and Aylesford, Dartford, Sittingboune and Sheppey, Faversham and Mid Kent, Tunbridge Wells, Maidstone and the Weald, Gillingham and Rainham Tonbridge and Malling, Gravesham and Rochester and Strood. The last seat to declare was at 5.30am with Roger Gale retaining Thanet North.
Canterbury had been under the spotlight since the start of the campaign.
Ms Duffield won the seat in 2015 by just 187 votes, which made the constituency one to watch from the start. There were fears the Liberal Democrats would split the Labour vote leading to Tim Walker standing down early on in the campaign.
He was replaced by Claire Malcolmson who bought her own kind of controversy to the constituency.
Predictions swung both ways throughout the night, with the BBC saying at one stage that there was an 88% chance of Canterbury turning Labour. But Labour held on, with Ms Duffield increasing her majority. There was an exeptionally high turn out of 75%, with the student vote having a significant impact.
The Conservatives passed the 326 seat threshold with many still to declare, leaving Labour on a disastrous projected 203, leaving Boris Johnson to declare: "We did it."
Several early results saw the Tories take seats from Jeremy Corbyn's party for the first time in decades.
The Labour leader said the result was desperately disappointing for the party.
He added: he would not lead the party into the next election, but would stay on while a period of "reflection" takes place.
Mr Corbyn said Labour had put forward a "manifesto of hope" but "Brexit has so polarised debate it has overridden so much of normal political debate".
The mood was reflected on a local level with Brendan Chilton, head of the Ashford Labour group telling KentOnline: "It's a funeral tonight. It's a funeral for the Remain campaign and a funeral for the second referendum. It also sadly marks the end of Corbynism.
"If we want to win again we need to become a social democrat party focused on our working class and support leaving the EU."
Speaking at Westminster this morning the Prime Minister addressed cheering supporters saying: "We did it, we pulled it off.
"We broke the deadlock, we ended the gridlock, we smashed the roadblock in this glorious pre-breakfast moment before a new dawn rises on a new day.
"I want to congratulate everybody for the biggest result we have had since the 1980s.
"With this mandate and this majority we will at last be able to get Brexit done.
"And with this election we can end threats of a second referendum."
US President Donald Trump has tweeted his congratulations to Boris Johnson on victory in the General Election, adding the UK and US will “now be free to strike a massive new trade deal after Brexit”
While attention is focusing on Labour's poor performance, it was also a disastrous night for the Lib Dems with leader Jo Swinson losing her East Dumbartonshire seat to the SNP by 149 votes.
She said: "“These are significant results for the future of our country. These results will bring read and dismay - people are looking for hope.”
Back in Kent, new and returning MPs have been reacting to the overnight drama.
Greg Clark, re-elected in Tunbridge Wells, said: "It's time now to put the divisions of the last few years behind us and move forward together."
New Dover and Deal MP Natalie Elphicke reacted to her win with delight, saying: ""My goodness. What an absolute stunning result, thank you.
"This is the clearest possible direction from the people of Dover and Deal to get Brexit done so that we can move forward as a country, to bring more jobs and the money we need to secure better healthcare."
Re-elected Canterbury Labour MP Rosie Duffield said: "Finally winding down after intense 24 hour stretch...thrilled to have the honour of being MP for Canterbury, Whitstable and our villages again. Thank you so very much to everyone who voted and all who worked so hard to make it possible. Too many people to thank for now."
Local Labour figures have been quick to voice their feelings about their party's poll disaster.
Cllr Andy Stamp, the Labour candidate for Gillingham and Rainham, said the projected result was 'deeply disappointing' and said he hoped 'fantastic constituency MP' Rosie Duffield deserves to hold onto her seat despite some reports that the Tories may claim it back.
The scale of Labour's collapse has been summed up by the result in their previous stronghold of Blyth Valley, which was taken by the Tories with a 10% swing.
Follow our live blog for details on the results across Kent as they come in.
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