Conservatives win general election in Ashfield for first time since 1970s

The 51-year-old, who spent 26 years in the RAF, said he now plans to hold his first MP’s surgery tomorrow (Saturday, December 14).

He said when he got home from the count he didn’t treat himself to a glass of fizz, but instead fell asleep while replying to messages – having been awake for 24 hours.He says he now looks forward to spending time over Christmas with his family – wife Caroline, 19-year-old twins, and Poppy the Cairn terrier.

His Broxtowe seat drew national attention, in part because of the previous MP being the prominent Remainer Anna Soubry, who left the Conservatives to join what became known as the Independent Group for Change.

On the night, she was comfortably beaten into third place.Speaking about how the night panned out, he said: “I was very surprised by the scale of the result nationally.

“I thought Corbyn would have had to have a coalition Government if it was a hung Parliament, or that there was a chance Boris could have had something similar, but I didn’t expect that resounding a win for the Conservatives across the country, especially winning some seats we didn’t expect to win.”

Asked about whether he was surprised at the scale of his own win in Broxtowe, Mr Henry, who won with 26,602 votes, said: “I knew it would be tight, and I knew I had a chance of winning, but the size was a shock. “It did surprise me the amount I won by. I think that was because it was an unusual election.”

Asked whether he thought Brexit or Corbyn had been a bigger factor in voters moving away from Labour, Mr Henry said: “Brexit. Definitely Brexit. It’s all about not having a narrative over the last few years Brexit. I spoke to people on the doorsteps who were remainers and were upset that Parliament was frustrating the will of the people.”

The full result: Darren Henry (Con) 26,602, Greg Marshall (Lab) 21,271, Anna Soubry (Ind Group for Change) 4,668, Kat Boettge (Green) 1,806, Amy Dalla Mura (English Democrats) 432, Teck Khong (Ind) 321, David Bishop (Church of the Militant Elvis) 172. Turnout: 75.7%