SIR David Amess held Southend West for the sixth election in a row on Thursday night, his tenth straight win overall.

The Conservative veteran took the seat with 26,046 votes, the most he has ever received, and has vowed that he will not let Southend A&E be downgraded.

Sir David has been an MP since 1983, representing Basildon until 1997 where he was voted to represent Southend West.

He said: “This is actually the most number of votes I’ve ever received as a Parliamentary candidate.

“This is the tenth time I’ve stood as a parliamentary candidate and if you’d told me two years ago that I would be standing here again fighting another election, I wouldn’t have believed it and this has been quite an extraordinary election with the terrorist attacks and the result of the referendum last year.

“It’s an absolute privilege to be the MP for Southend West and I’m very ambitious for this town and as long as I am the MP for Southend West, Southend’s A&E will never be downgraded.”

Mr Amess, who was the last to arrive at the count in Southend Tennis and Leisure centre, Garon Park, Southend, drew some controversy during his campaign when he defied his own party and made commitments to save Southend A&E from being downgraded in major shake-up plans.

Under current Conservative austerity measures, Southend A&E will be downgraded and all emergency traffic will be sent to Basildon.

Sir David even announced his dedication “to improving” the Southend Hospital A&E at a public meeting held at Iveagh Hall in Leigh Road.

During the drop-in session, Sir David, who has been the area’s MP for 20-years, was handed a petition entitled “Save Southend A&E!” which he signed in front of 40 people.

Despite showing his support, he failed to attend a successful rally which was attended by people from many varied parties.

As the Conservatives held strong across every seat in south Essex, Sir David pointed to a very different picture across the country as the Conservatives struggled to form a majority.

Branding it a “difficult night” for his party, he added: “I’m very disappointed at the overall picture, but whatever happens when we assemble in Parliament next week, I do hope that whoever returns to Westminster will act in the best interests of our country.”

It was a victory of sorts for the Labour party as candidate Julian Ware-Lane came in second with 16,046 managed to chip away at the Tory’s stronghold over Southend by reducing the majority by 4,021.

In a damning criticism of the Conservatives’ campaign, the Southend Borough Councillor said: “Six weeks ago when Theresa May went to the Queen she was looking at a landslide and that clearly hasn’t happened and in part that’s down to the hardworking people in Southend and all the supporters across the country.

“I’ve doubled my vote which I’m incredibly proud of and who knows, we may be back here soon depending on how it goes.”