07/05/10 - Thank you for your support

I want to thank everyone who has worked so hard on my campaign over the past 18 months. I owe you all a huge debt of gratitude.

We have a lot to be proud of:

A swing just short of 7.5%

Significantly increasing our share of the vote – with good tally results in places like Brotton, Skelton and Coulby Newham

Pushing Labour very close in this constituency – they only have a majority of 1,677 votes

Creating the most marginal Labour/Conservative seat in the North East

Our result and those in Stockton South and Redcar show that Teesside is no longer a one Party state, and that the Labour Party is losing the confidence of local people. 

I want to congratulate Tom Blenkinsop on his election and I wish him well. He was a friendly opponent and has hard shoes to fill following the sad death of Ashok Kumar. The people of Middlesbrough South & East Cleveland deserve a hard working MP. The Conservatives will continue to work hard locally for people all year round.

Most of all I would like to thank the 16,461 electors who voted for me. It is a tremendous honour to have had so many people put their faith in me and the Conservatives. We have shown we can win this constituency and we have an excellent base to do this in the future.