Sir Graham Brady calls for an end to “bitterness and rancour” as he is elected Altrincham and Sale West MP for a seventh time

The Conservatives have held Altrincham and Sale West after Sir Graham Brady was re-elected for a seventh time.

Brady, who was first elected in 1997, secured 26,311 votes and a majority of 6,139 over Labour’s Andrew Western, who won 20,172 votes.

Turnout in the constituency was an impressive 75.1%, or 54,936.

Watch the results read out as Sir Graham Brady is re-elected:

The Liberal Democrats placed third, with candidate Angela Smith securing 6,036 votes, followed by Geraldine Coggins for the Greens (1,566), the Liberal Party’s Neil Taylor (454) and independent candidate Iram Kiani (224).

There were suggestions that Brady’s support for Brexit may hurt him in a constituency where a majority voted to remain in the EU, but his quantity of votes – and majority – was only marginally reduced from the 2017 election.

Addressing the crowd after the result was announced at Emirates Old Trafford at 4.30am, he said: “It is an enormous privilege for me to be elected for the seventh time by the people of Altrincham and Sale West. To represent my home constituency in Parliament is a great honour and it’s also a great responsibility.

“There’s also a huge job for us to do in new circumstances to make sure that what looks like is going to be a Conservative majority government is going to be able, yes, to implement Brexit, but also to do so in an orderly way that leads to the certainty that the country needs.

“I also hope that this general election marks the moment when we can move on from some of the bitterness and rancour and personal animosity that has dogged too much of our politics in recent times, and on that note I would thank the other candidates because I think we’ve had some good debates and have even enjoyed each other’s company during the course of the campaign, and that’s the way it should be and that’s the way it will be in the future.”