Somerset General Election voters turn county into a sea of yellow and red

Somerset has been transformed from a sea of blue to a sea of yellow and red as a political earthquake hit the county. From holding eight of the seats in the county at the start of the night, the Conservatives are down to just one after nearly being wiped out.

The Liberal Democrats comeback is now a field of shimmering yellow as they made good on their targets to win back historic heartland seats in Somerset. The Lib Dems have won Frome and East Somerset, Taunton and Wellington, Glastonbury and Somerton, Wells and Mendip Hills, Yeovil and the new Tiverton and Minehead constituency – as well as holding Bath.

Labour won back North East Somerset and Hanham as Metro Mayor Dan Norris reclaimed the seat he lost to Conservative Jacob Rees-Mogg in 2010 in what was one of the most anticipated contests of the night. Fittingly perhaps, his result was the one that tipped Sir Keir Starmer’s party to 326 seats and thus a majority.

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First ever wins for Labour in North Somerset and Weston-super-Mare added to their joy on the night. The Conservatives had to settle for just a single a spot of blue in Bridgwater – and that was a narrow victory.

Even across the border things were changing, with Labour winning South Dorset and Liberal Democrats West Dorset. Honiton and Sidmouth went Liberal Democrat as well.

The first result of the night in Somerset saw Ashley Fox hold on – against some expectations – in Bridgwater. He won by just over 1,000 votes from Labour rival Leigh Redman – but that was as good as it got for the Conservatives all night.

The Liberal Democrat surge began with victories in Frome and East Somerset, Taunton and Wellington, Glastonbury and Somerton, Wells and Mendip Hills, Yeovil and the new Tiverton and Minehead constituency.

New Yeovil MP Adam Dance said: "Thank you to the people of Yeovil for putting your trust in me - to be your MP is a real privilege. I will be an MP who works for the area, like Paddy Ashdown and David Laws.

"I will go back to local advice centres, which will be held across the whole of the constituency, not just here in Yeovil. I will fight for local jobs, for a cleaner environment here, and for better local health services which we all need.

"I will always be an MP you can be proud of, and I will always be on your side because I was born and brought up here. I will be an agent for change in Westminster.

"We have to improve education and health, create a fairer society and meet head on the challenges of climate change. Thank you all so much for the trust you have placed in me - I won't forget it, and I promise I won't let you down."

New Glastonbury and Somerton MP Sarah Dyke said that the Liberal Democrats are back. She added: "Thank you for believing in me and trusting me to be your voice. It's been an honour to represent my community since I was first elected to parliament last year, and it will be a privilege to continue to doing so. Ours is a great country, and there's no better part of it than Somerset, where my roots run deep. I will not let you down."

In Bath, Wera Hobhouse was re-elected as Bath’s Liberal Democrat MP but with a substantially reduced majority. 19,883 people in Somerset’s largest city voted for Ms Hobouse. It is clear victory but almost a third less than the 28,419 she received in 2019.

In her acceptance speech, she thanked fellow candidates, members of her team, and her “long suffering husband,” adding: “Particularly and especially thanks to the voters in Bath who for the third time have put their trust in me.

“Ed Davey and the Liberal Democrats have run an amazing campaign across the country. Today is a day to celebrate but next week in Parliament the serious work will start to really make sure that our NHS and public services are coming back from the brink, that we make sure that those who are struggling in Bath with the cost of living, and last but not least that we turbo-charge our energy to get to net zero.”

The eagerly anticipated North East Somerset and Hanham seat saw Jacob Rees-Mogg lose his seat in a dramatic loss to the Labour MP he won the seat off 14 years ago. Labour’s Dan Norris beat Sir Jacob with 20,739 votes to his 15,420. Reform UK, whose voters Sir Jacob had urged to support him as they would get “90% of what they want,” scooped 7,424 votes — enough to have made the difference if they had backed the Conservatives.

In his concession speech, Sir Jacob congratulated Mr Norris and Labour leader Keir Starmer and thanked his team and constituency staff. He ended by quoting Chitty Chitty Bang Bang inventor Caracatus Potts: “From the ashes of disaster grow the roses of success.” He then had to contend with a media scrum which chased him out of the building. The result came at the exact moment Labour got to 326 seats and to have a majority

In his acceptance speech, Mr Norris thanked supporters, adding: “I also want to thank Jacob Rees-Mogg. He has done a very good job in supporting his constituency — up until now obviously. I know exactly how that feels because Mr Rees-Mogg gave me that compliment 14 years ago and I have been able to return that.”

Labour also claimed the two North Somerset Council wards of North Somerset and Weston-super-Mare – two seats they had never won before. In Weston, Dan Aldridge broke the nineteen-year Conservative streak with a majority of 4,409 and 38.48% of the overall vote. In his victory speech, Mr Aldridge thanked his supporters, his predecessor John Penrose "for your service on behalf of our amazing town", and "voters who put their trust in me and those who didn't vote for me."

Labour then in the final result of the night declared, secured another historic victory as Sadik Al-Hassan won the North Somerset seat from veteran MP Liam Fox. Mr Al-Hassan received 19,138 votes, ending Liam Fox's tenure of over thirty years as MP. The pharmacist from Patchway is the first ever Labour MP for the area. He said it’s an “absolute honour to be selected” and he “cannot wait” to get to work. Not since 1910 had the area elected a non-Conservative MP.

“At the beginning of the campaign, I knew the challenge we would face,” he told the audience at the election count on Friday morning. “They said it was a Tory stronghold, one of the safest of safe seats. But, together, we’ve done it. North Somerset has voted for change, North Somerset has voted with hope for a better future.”

Sadik said he was deeply honoured to win the seat for Labour and pledged that he would work tirelessly to show people that they had made the right choice — serving as “the dedicated representative at Westminster that the entire community deserves.”