James Cleverly thanked the people of Braintree after he increased his majority to hold Braintree in the general election.

Mr Cleverly secured 32,873 votes, over 5,000 more than in 2015, with a majority of 18,422 over second-placed Malcolm Fincken from the Labour Party, who won 14,451.

Mr Cleverly tweeted: “Thank you to the people of Braintree who have, once again, sent me to Westminster to represent them. I’ll keep working on your behalf.”

Liberal Democrat Peter Turner won 2,251 votes in third place, while Richard Bingley from Ukip picked up 1,835 – down from 9,461 in 2015, a loss of 7,626 votes.

Green Party candidate Tom Pashby finished in last place with 916 votes.

Voter turnout was up 1.1% from 68.4 in 2015 to 69.5 in this year’s general election.

Mr Cleverly, who won his seat in parliament in 2015, was a member of the London Assembly for Bexley and Bromley from 2008-2016. • See the results from elsewhere in Suffolk and north Essex on our interactive map.