Counting of the votes continues in Bury St Edmunds as candidates anxiously await a declaration.

Validation of the ballot papers took longer than expected meaning the hoped-for announcement of the result at 3.30pm was missed by a long way.

Although there is little chatter on the floor a quick look at the piles of ballot papers appears to indicate Conservative candidate Jo Churchill will, as expected, hold the seat for her party.

Mrs Churchill said there had been an “absolutely fantastic” reaction to her campaign in the constituency.

“I was selected in November and I came in very much with the attitude that there was no such thing as a safe seat.

“I’ve run a business for 20 years – complacency can be your biggest enemy.”

There were a total of 59,566 votes cast in the constituency, a turnout of around 69% and similar to the 2010 election.

The other candidates standing in Bury St Edmunds are Bill Edwards, representing Labour, John Howlett from UKIP, David Chappell from the Liberal Democrats and Helen Geake from the Green Party.

Mr Chappell said it was disappointing to see his party performing poor nationally.

Talking about his local campaign he said: “It seemed to go well on the ground but it’s not gone so well on the national scene.

There’s always a niggling thought in the back of your mind because of the opinion polls but the Lib Dems, to get elected, do a lot of hard work in the communities.”

In 2010 the Lib Dems took second place ahead of Labour but Mr Chappell said this year he doubted that would be repeated.

However he did believe the party would see more MPs in parliament than forecast by exit polls.

Dr Geake said she felt her election campaign had gone well and hoped she could better her party’s 2010 result in Bury St Edmunds.

“The Green’s have always come last in Bury St Edmunds so I would like to not come last, that would be great,” she said.

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