There were contrasting fortunes for two candidates with Suffolk connections in last week’s general election – in different parts of Britain.
Former Stowmarket schoolboy Gareth Snell was elected Labour MP for Stoke Central in a by-election in early 2017 and held the seat in that year's general election. But on Thursday he was beaten by the Conservatives in one of the major changes of the night.
Meanwhile Suffolk county councillor Robin Millar, who represents Newmarket at Endeavour House, was elected Conservative MP for Aberconwy in North Wales - the area that includes the tourist hotspots of Llandudno and the Betws y Coed.
Mr Snell was brought up in Stowmarket and lived in the town with his family until he went to Keele University in Staffordshire.
He became involved in politics and became a leading councillor before being selected to fight the Stoke on Trent seat in the by-election.
After it became clear that he would be losing his seat, Mr Snell told the BBC that it was time for Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell to step down from their leadership roles.
He said: "It's disastrous, a calamity for the Labour Party. I suspect my seat will be one of those that fall to the Conservatives this evening and this is one of the worst results that the Labour Party could ever have imagined."
Mr Snell joined fellow Labour Party members to help campaigning in Stowmarket in the run up to the 2017 county council election when he was joined by Sandy Martin, who later joined him in the House of Commons - but suffered the same fate on Thursday.
Meanwhile over the Welsh border Mr Millar was celebrating after winning a 2,000 vote majority in the marginal seat.
His family comes from nearby Bangor, but he has lived in West Suffolk for many years and is a former deputy leader of Forest Heath Council and was a member of the county council's cabinet for a few years.
In his acceptance seat after the count at Venue Cymru in the constituency, Mr Millar said: "It's an immense pleasure, and an extraordinary privilege - one that at times I thought I'd never see, to represent an area I consider a home to me."
He will be travelling to London to join his colleagues in parliament this week.
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