TORY Greg Knight has held Yorkshire East with an increased majority, claiming voters had rewarded him for local achievements such as flood defences at Stamford Bridge.

Mr Knight received more than 21,000 votes, comfortably ahead of Labour, which polled a little under 15,000, and the Liberal Democrats, who collected a little over 9,000.

He said electors had recognised he was an MP who lived in and worked for the constituency, bringing tangible improvements to the quality of life.

"Gone are the days when an MP could live 200 miles away from his constituency," he said.

The MP told the Evening Press he had helped secure the multi-million pound scheme to prevent flooding in Stamford Bridge in the face of opposition from civil servants.

Mr Knight said voters in the constituency, which also includes Pocklington, had been concerned about health issues such as perceived threats to hospital services at Bridlington and Driffield and difficulties in getting NHS dental treatment.

The ban on fox hunting had also been raised by voters in the villages, but only one had mentioned the Iraq war.

He felt Labour had been protected from a national disaster by one factor, which he had picked up particularly among professional people near the York end of his constituency - "the perceived strength of the economy."

But he believed this feeling would disappear over the next couple of years, for example as taxes rose.

He said the cut in Labour's majority across Britain would be a good thing for Parliament, after it had been ignored in the wake of the 1997 and 2001 landslides.

"The views of minorities will have to be listened to now," he said.

Labour candidate Emma Hoddinott said it had been a good campaign, with another strong Labour vote in East Yorkshire.

The Liberal Democrat, Jim Wastling, said his party had regained some of the votes lost to Labour when Tony Blair first came to power.

The other candidate was Christopher Tresidder (UKIP), who polled 1,703 votes.

Turnout was 61.2 per cent, slightly up on the 59.9 per cent figure for 2001.

:: Yorkshire East result

Greg Knight, (Conservative) 21,215

Emma Hoddinott, (Labour) 14,932

Jim Wastling, (Liberal Democrat) 9,075

Christopher Tresidder, (UKIP) 1,703 (3.6%)

Updated: 10:56 Friday, May 06, 2005