History made as Labour claim Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket constituency

History has been made in Suffolk as Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket will be represented by Labour for the first time.

Dr Peter Prinsley has claimed the seat from the Conservatives with a majority of 1,452.

In his victory speech, the newly-elected MP said: "Today, the voters of Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket have chosen change.

"I promise to work tirelessly with our fantastic new Government to bring that change right here.

"I thank all my opponents for the friendly and respectful way the election has taken place.

"Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket is now a Labour seat for the first time ever. We have a strong Labour party and I thank my campaign team for the amazing work we have done in the last six weeks."

A new MP was always destined for this seat, also a newly formed constituency following boundary changes, after Jo Churchill announced she would be standing down.

Will Tanner, the Conservative candidate, came second with 15,293 votes.

Peter McDonald, Liberal Democrat candidate for Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket, praised the national performance of the party.

“Nationally, it’s great,” he said. “They predicted around 60 seats and it seems to be that number.

“It was no secret that the Lib Dem campaign was very targeted at target seats. Everything I have seen so far tonight, all the target seats that were there right from the start are target seats that have turned up. So in terms of the hit rate, it’s very, very high.

“The reception on the doorstep, they were very pleased to see a Lib Dem candidate that hadn’t been there in 2019."

Scott Hussey, Reform UK candidate, said: “There’s been a lot of support on the streets for us. I’ve had people coming over who have been traditional voters all their life, who feel very frustrated and betrayed by the government.

"I’ve had a lot of people say they’ve been really excited for many, many years and elections about voting again. They think it could actually make a difference this time.”

Results in full

Peter Prinsley (L) 16,745

Will Tanner (C) 15,293

Scott Hussey (RUK) 8,595

Emma Buckmaster (G) 5,761

Peter McDonald (LD) 3,154

Jeremy Lee (I) 819

Richard Baker-Howard (REU) 350

Darren Turner (Com) 176

Turnout 66% - majority 1,452