Labour makes big inroads into Tory majority in Melton

Alicia Kearns won Rutland & Melton for the Conservatives with a majority of nearly 27,000 at the last ballot in 2019 but this time Edward Argar held on to the new Melton & Syston seat by just over 5,000 votes from Labour opponent Zafran Khan.

The result reflected a national trend in voting which saw Sir Keir Starmer sweeping to power with a landslide victory for his Labour Party with more than 400 seats.

Mr Khan had hoped to overturn the Tories domination of the Melton constituency to become its first ever Labour MP.

Reacting on his X social media account, Mr Khan posted: "It was a disappointing result for us, but congratulations to Edward Argar, newly elected MP for Melton & Syston, on his win.

"I want to thank every single one of you who voted for change here.

"It has been a real honour to talk with people on doorsteps and in our communities over the last few weeks, listening to what matters most to you.

"The desire for better and the hope that we can achieve it is tangible.

"Whilst we may not have got a Labour MP, we look forward to the positive changes Melton & Syston will now see, because we have a Labour government.”

Reform UK finished third in Melton & Syston with Pete Morris polling almost 20 per cent of the vote share – nationally the party won four seats with just a handful still to be declared, including leader Nigel Farage’s victory in Clacton.

Speaking before the election result was announced this morning, Mr Morris told the Melton Times: “We are not going to win here but we’ve had a reasonable result as a party starting from ground zero.

"Nigel Farage would make a wonderful Prime Minister.

"I can see Reform UK taking over the Conservative Party the way they’ve performed tonight.

"Speaking to people on their doorsteps, immigration was a big issue because it has a big effect on everyone’s life.”

This was the fourth General Election that Alastair McQuillan has stood for the Green Party in the Melton constituency.

He finished fourth after slightly increasing the party’s vote share locally to eight per cent.

In the early hours as votes were still being counted, Mr McQuillan told the Melton Times: “I also stood in 2015, 2017 and 2019 and our votes are going up again this year.

"Nationally, it’s been the best night for the Greens in England and Wales which is encouraging.”

Mr McQuillan said he was frustrated by the lack of ‘green infrastructure’ in the Melton borough, including a major shortage of sites to power electric cars.

Teck Khong, who was standing for new party Alliance for Democracy and Freedom, was unhappy with his vote share – he polled just 348.

He told the Melton Times before the result was announced that his party had ‘done very badly’ in Melton.

Mr Khong said Parliament needed GPs like him to be able to influence the changes he says are needed in the health service in this country.