History made as Tom Hayes elected Bournemouth East MP

HISTORY was made as Bournemouth elected its first Labour MP.

Tom Hayes was elected to be the member of parliament for Bournemouth East, beating previous Conservative incumbent Tobias Ellwood, 18,316 votes to 12,837.

Mr Hayes said the result was ‘phenomenal’.

He told the Daily Echo: “I’m really pleased with it, and I think it shows the people of Bournemouth want change.

“They have responded to a campaign that has been active for many, many months, we’ve knocked on lots of doors, had lots of conversations, and we’ve promised that we won’t let people down, that were listening and that we want to do right by our town.

“It’s great to have the honour to be Bournemouth’s first Labour MP.”

Mr Hayes said his first step would be to set up his office ‘in the heart of the constituency’, recruiting local people to help with issues they face.

“Being able to represent Bournemouth East in parliament, fighting our corner for investment and attention, because the town desperately needs both,” he said.

“We ran a really hopeful, positive campaign.

“We talked about our plan, we talked about the hopes of people locally, and that is exactly how we will govern here in Bournemouth East.

“We will be taking the positive steps forward to rebuild our town, particularly our town centre, and get the best for Bournemouth.”

Mr Hayes also thanked his predecessor in the role, Conservative Tobias Ellwood.

“I just want to thank him for his time in parliament, representing Bournemouth East,” Mr Hayes said.

“I wish him well, and I wish his family well. I would be very happy to get advice from him about how to do the role of MP in the future.”

Mr Ellwood was defiant in defeat.

He said: “The closeness of this majority suggests that we shouldn’t be going away, and accepting the result as it is.

“I absolutely do accept the result, but I make it very clear that we are going to regroup here in Bournemouth. I’m not going anywhere.

“I am going to stand again and I will be back.”

Across Bournemouth, Jessica Toale was the first Labour Party candidate to be elected in Bournemouth West, meaning Bournemouth will have two Labour MPs.

The full results in Bournemouth East:

Tobias Ellwood (Con) 12837

Tom Hayes (Lab) 18316 ELECTED

Martin James Houlden (Ref) 6268

Jon Martin Nicholas (LD) 3082

Miles Penn (SDP) 88

Joe Angus Salmon (Grn) 2790

Kieron Wilson (Ind) 1529