THE re-elected Mark Francois MP left it late as he arrived only a matter of minutes before his majority of over 30,000 votes was announced.

The Brexiteer Tory MP romped home in his constituency of Rayleigh and Wickford, after he received 39, 864 votes, exactly 31,000 votes ahead of the Labour candidate David Flack, who gained 8864 votes.

Liberal Democrat candidate Ron Tindall, who was absent from the count with flu, received 4171 votes, and Green Party candidate Paul Thorogood gained 2002 votes.

The staunch Brexiteer Francois, who was interviewed by Andrew Neil on the BBC Election programme only hours before he was due to arrive at the Clements Hall Leisure Centre, told a Tory peer he had “survived the interview.”

The MP, who has held his seat in Parliament since 2010, arrived minutes before the candidates were called to the stage. 

Following his win he was FaceTimed by fellow Tories Sir David Amess and James Duddridge, who held onto their Southend seats.

Elsewhere, Basildon Tory candidates wiped out competition from Labour, Thurrock's Tory majority spiked and Castle Point also remained in the blue.

In his victory speech, Francois stated that he had arrived “in just about the right about of time”. He continued, with his voice echoing around the counting hall, and thanked every member of his team for their hard work: “I am humbled to have a majority of over 30,000 votes. I pledge that I will be worthy of that result and do the best I can.

“We know two things. We now know emphatically and at last, that we will leave the EU on the 31st of January. We will become a sovereign nation once again.

“Some people wanted a so called people’s vote, we’ve just had one. It’s called a general election.

“People have voted emphatically to get Brexit done.

“Maybe one day Labour will become electable again, but not too near in the future.

“I’m grateful to my constituents for allowing me to represent them and renewing my contract in the Houses of Parliament.

“This is a pretty stunning result, but we couldn’t have achieved it without a tremendous amount of teamwork. Politics is a team game.”

When pressed on what was next for him in Rayleigh and Wickford, he simply replied, “sleep.”

The total number of votes in the constituency was 54,901, with a 69.9 per cent turnout.

293 polling cards were rejected.