CONSERVATIVE Rebecca Harris kept hold of her Castle Point seat after the polls closed beating Ukip, Labour and Liberal Democrats with a clear win.

Mrs Harris won a majority of 18,872 after a busy election campaign which saw her out and about visit different areas of the borough, including a recycling centre and meeting volunteer services.

During her time out on the streets, in a bid to win more votes, she was even joined by Roger Hirst, the Police and Crime Commissioner for Essex, when she visited Canvey and spoke to businesses and residents.

But the campaign to win over the Castle Point residents was not plain sailing for the Tories as more than 40 of their campaign boards across the borough were destroyed.

Most of the boards had “JC for PM” written on them, in reference to leader of the Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn.

The vandalism has been condemned by political parties including the Labour Party.

She increased her number of votes by more than 7,000 this time around leaving Ukip, Labour and Liberal Democrats far behind in the rankings,

There was no Green Party candidate for the constituency this year. Ukip saw the biggest drop in votes compared to 2015, while Labour and Liberal Democrats won more votes compared with 2015.

Mrs Harris been very supportive to The Echo in recent times and even spoke openly in the House of Commons defending local newspapers and news outlets in time where local newspapers are threatened by the fake news phenomenon.

Mrs Harris, who beat former Conservative and Ukip MP Bob Spink to be elected in 2010, was able to draw on support from five years of campaigning on local issues during the fight. She joined the successful Echo led campaign to save the Deanes School, in Thundersley, from closure, going against Tory colleagues in County Hall and using party contacts to get the i issue noticed by the Department for Education.

The former marketing executive, along with local politicians from all parties, has called for the green belt to be protected from development and improvements to flood defences over the past five years.

This is the second election in a role that Mrs Harris has increased her majority as yet again more residents in the borough backed Tory Mrs Harris at the polls.

She was emotional as the results were announced on the night by David Marchant, chief executive of Castle Point Council on the stage at Runnymede Hall, Kiln Road, Benfleet.

After a applause and cheers filled the room, the newly elected MP gave a speech to the crowds in the busy hall.

She said: “It is a specular honour to be chosen to represent the borough.

“I want to thanks David Marchant and all the workers for a good count and I also want to thank the police for their presence.

“I want to thank to my agent, Colin Mac and of course a huge thank you to all the residents in Castle Point who have supported me I will work hard for my residents.”