VOTERS in Tunbridge Wells remained true to their colours and elected Conservative candidate Greg Clark.

Mr Clark won almost half of the constituency’s votes with a total of 21,083.

He will replace outgoing Conservative MP Archie Norman, who exits amid rumours he will take up a position as chairman of high street retailers Marks and Spencer.

Mr Clark’s victory comes as no surprise in what is seen as the one of the safest Tory seats in the county, and his majority of almost 10,000 echoes that of the 2001 result.

Following the announcement of his victory, a jubilant Mr Clark said: "It’s fantastic and I’m elated. It is a huge honour to be given the chance to represent the people of Tunbridge Wells."

Hard campaigning from Liberal Democrat candidate Laura Murphy saw her clearly beat Labour candidate Jacqueline Jedrzejewski into second place by over 2000 votes.

This was a significant gain by the Lib Dems following the 2001 election in which they received only 600 more votes than Labour.

UK Independence Party candidate Victor Webb expressed disappointment at receiving little more than 1500 votes, and after congratulating Mr Clark on his victory launched into a damning criticism of his rivals’ campaigns.

Mr Webb said: "I think it’s disgusting that nationally each party in the national elections have refused to mention the issue of Europe. It means that the next generation may not have the opportunity to choose who will govern them - that is a disgrace."

Liberal Democrat candidate Laura Murphy told of her pride following the election result.

She said: "I feel quite upbeat. We’ve made inroads into the Labour vote, but we’re still disappointed we didn’t quite cut into the Conservative majority."

The Lib Dem candidate put the success of the election down to a well planned campaign, adding: "We fought a very good campaign and we’re on our way. We’ve certainly got a good team and I think we are in a position to really challenge next year.

"The Lib Dems can bring in fantastic ideas and really turn things around."