TORY Julian Sturdy has retained the York Outer seat with a thumping 13,000 majority over second placed Labour candidate Joe Riches.

The result, in a poll with a turnout of 70 per cent, was a huge improvement on his majority of just 3,600 in 2010.

Liberal Democrat James Blanchard came in third place, about 1,000 votes ahead of UKIP's Paul Abbott.

Mr Sturdy said he was 'absolutely delighted' that the people of York Outer had put their trust back in him to serve another term in Parliament, having been an 'absolute privilege' to serve them for the past five years.

"My priorities locally are very much to continue with the protection of the green belt, make sure we get the infrastructure we need for our great city, get fairer and better funding for our local NHS, and make sure we deliver a strong economy to continue to provide growth to the business community," he said.

Asked for his reaction to the Conservative's achievements nationally, he said: "I came here tonight thinking we would be the largest party. I didn't believe we would be able to get a Conservative majority but we've got the biggest majority since 1992, and that's a huge achievement for David Cameron."

He said that when the polls had shown there was going to be a Parliament with no clear permission to govern, there had been concerns that this would bring uncertainty in the markets and within the economy.

"I think that is ultimately what brought the high turn-out across the county, and has brought a result akin to that of 1992."

Mr Sturdy added that he did not believe the promised referendum on whether Britain should remain a part of the EU would bring similar uncertainty.

"I am not worried about that," he said. "The Prime Minister will now have a strong hand to go out and re-negotiate our position."

Mr Riches said: “It was a strong result, and we have established ourselves second place.

“Part of the battle in this campaign has been persuading people that we are the main opposition [as opposed to the Lib Dems in York Outer].

“It gives us a good platform for the future. I think it’s something to build on and that is positive.”

Green candidate Ginnie Shaw spoke of her delight that the party had avoided losing its deposit.


York Outer results in full:

Julian Sturdy (Con) - 26,447
Joe Riches (Lab) - 13,348
James Blanchard (Lib Dem) - 6,269
Paul Abbott (Ukip) - 5,251
Ginnie Shaw (Green) - 2,558

Spoilt ballots - 154

Turnout - 70%

York Press:
Julian Sturdy speaks after winning the York Outer seat