Zac Goldsmith comfortably held his Richmond Park seat tonight having secured more than 34,000 votes.
Liberal Democrat candidate Robin Meltzer won 11389 votes, Labour’s Sachin Patel gained 7,296, UKIP’s Sam Naz won 2,464 votes while Green Party’s Andree Frieze gained 3,548 votes.
Mr Goldsmith, who has held the seat since 2010, said: “I want to focus on the conservative future. It has been so inspiring, the effort [campaigners] have made.
“They have injected real energy and a sense of pride and for that reason so many joined the campaign and made the last couple of months really enjoyable as well as successful.
“To residents I would say it has been an unimaginable honour representing my home community for five years and to be asked to do so for another hopefully 5 years – there can be no greater honour.
“I am always putting my community first and you know I will continue to do so. Thank you so much for putting your trust in me.”
Liberal Democrat candidate Robin Meltzer said: “I would like to personally congratulate Zac Goldsmith for retaining the seat and thank all candidates and the spirit of the campaign – I’ve enjoyed every single moment of it.
“Also thank you to my agent and everybody who voted for us on a difficult night and all the volunteers. Thank you very much indeed.”
Labour’s Sachin Patel said: “Robin mentioned the spirit of the campaign and I believe we have shown the nation how a campaign should be run – we’ve kept it policy based and not personal and we are very proud of that.”
Andree Frieze, Green Party, said: “I would like to thank team in Richmond park – the Green Party team got us out tonight, we went out canvassing and it has been a great evening and we had a great result.
UKIP’s Sam Naz added:“Congratulations to Zac and I wish to join opponents in thanking the returning officer for proceeding as efficiently and professionally as possible.”
