IT WAS a landslide victory for incumbent West Worcestershire MP, Harriett Baldwin, as she comfortably secured a second term in office, writes Sarah Hickinbotham.

The Conservative candidate received an additional 3,000 votes on top of her 2010 tally, with 30,342 of ballots cast.

UKIP’s Richard Chamings took second spot with 7,764 votes, while Daniel Walton of Labour came a close third, just 520 votes behind.

The Green Party saw their vote share increase five-fold from 641 in 2010 to 3,505.

But, it was a dismal night for the Liberal Democrats, who were shunted from second to fourth with 5,245 votes – down more than 15,000 on 2010.

During her acceptance speech, an emotional Mrs Baldwin thanked her husband, Jim, and her team of campaigners for their “fantastic” support and said it was a “privilege” to be representing West Worcestershire for another five years.

Speaking to the Malvern Gazette, she said: “I’m astonished. I thought the result in 2010 was really good. I didn’t think I’d get 3,000 more today. It’s a ringing endorsement of the Conservative’s track record for the country, but I’m also really delighted personally for the confidence people have put in me.”

Mrs Baldwin added that the campaign had highlighted a number of areas of focus for the coming five years, including more skilled workers, greater scrutiny of the aid budget, and continuing to fight for fairer school funding.

Meanwhile, Mr Chamings said UKIP's relative success would make West Worcestershire a target seat for the party.

He said: "I'm very pleased to come second. Going forward, we will be building on local membership and building up support."

Mr Walton said his party's result was "revolutionary".

"I'm ecstatic," he said. "We re-established ourselves here four years ago. To compete for second place to the Conservatives in West Worcestershire shows there is a need for the party here.

"We're getting stronger locally. Coming second was probably even beyond what we envisaged. We've seen quite a surge of new members and as much as we'd like to see a Labour goverment, we've got to represent the people in West Worcestershire." 

Lib Dem candidate, Dennis Wharton, said the result had not been unexpected.

He said: "I knew, looking at the national trend, anything was possible in this election... I think it's given the nation a shock. With the Tories, I think they've taken a lot of our credit [for policies]. The national media has not helped to get our voice out there. I think there's been a certain degree of bias."

In an unusual turn of events, the High Sheriff of Worcestershire, Sir Anthony Winnington, made the declaration. It is the first time in at least a decade that the Queen’s representative for judicial matters has chosen to employ his right to read the result at the West Worcestershire count.

A total of 54,314 votes were cast and 199 rejected ballots. Turnout was up slightly, from 73.8 per cent in 2010 to 74.002 per cent.

The local election results will be declared today (May 8) at 2pm.