By Rachel Charman
Conservative candidates David Amess (Southend West) and James Duddridge (Rochford and Southend East) have both held on to their seats with clear majorities.
James Duddridge took 19,509 votes, out of a total of 41,631. Labour’s Kevin Bonavia came in second with 8,459, with Liberal Democrat Graham Longley in third place with 8,084 votes. James Moyies of UKIP received 2,405 votes; Geoff Strobridge of the BNP got 1,856; the Green party’s Andrew Vaughn took 707; and Independent candidate Anthony Chytry came last with 611.
In Southend West, David Amess took 20,086 votes; the Liberal Democrat Peter Welch took 12,816; UKIP’s Garry Cockrill took 1,714; Labour’s Tom Flynn took 5,850; Tony Gladwin of the BNP took 1,333; Barry Bolton of the Green party took 644; and English Democrat Terry Phillips took546.
All of the candidates made speeches thanking their voters, aides and families for their support. BNP candidates booed Labour’s Tom Flynn as he mentioned Tony Gladwin’s Facebook transgressions, but no further altercations broke out.
Voter turnout was higher than that of 2005 in both constituencies. In Rochford and Southend East, voter turnout was 58.4%, and in Southend West, it was 65%.
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