LABOUR stalwart Sir David Crausby has lost his seat to the Tories after serving as an MP in Bolton for 22 years.

Mark Logan has been elected as the MP for Bolton North East in a night of unprecedented success for the Conservatives.

Chris Green held onto swing seat Bolton West for the Conservatives, finishing up with a majority nine times higher than it was in 2017.

Labour held onto Bolton South East but Yasmin Qureshi’s majority has fallen to 7,598, less than the Conservative margin in Bolton West.

Speaking after his historic victory, Mr Logan promised to put Bolton back on the map.

He said: “For the first time in almost 30 years, Bolton North East has turned blue. With this comes new opportunity rather than looking South to London we can now once again be an integral part of bringing energy, drive and optimism to the North of England.

“Bolton has a proud industrial history and I want to ensure it has a bright economic future. We will leave the EU over the next few months and I will be your voice to ensure that priorities and world views are not directed by London alone but instead consider the quality of life and prosperity of all regions of our United Kingdom.

“People of Bolton North East, from Crompton to Tonge and Breightmet to Bromley Cross, you have put your trust in me by marking that piece of paper yesterday. Now it’s time for me to help put Bolton back on the map as the go to town of the future."

The newly-elected Conservative MP is the first Tory to win in Bolton North East since 1992 when John Major was Prime Minister.

He paid tribute to his predecessor for decades of public service.

Sir David, who was first elected as an MP in 1997, lost to Mr Logan by just 378 votes.

The Labour veteran was disappointed with the result but said it was probably time he "packed it in" and did something else.

He said: “All political careers end in tears. I’ve had some good times and some difficult times looking back on it, it’s been worth it, but it is disappointing to lose in this way. But clearly, we didn’t lose by very many when much safer Labour seats lost by a great deal more.

“I think what Labour’s got to do nationally is refocus with its core vote and accept that the result we’ve had tonight is not a vote of confidence in the direction the party has been moving in."

Bolton South East MP Yasmin Qureshi, who was re-elected with a slimmer majority, said she was disappointed that Sir David had lost his seat, but blamed the result on the national picture.

She said: “What happened here is very much a national issue and Brexit played a big deal because a lot of Labour voters as I found in my constituency, because they voted for the Brexit, they wanted a party that they believed can deliver Brexit, which they believed to be the Conservative Party."

Bolton West MP Chris Green was also re-elected, increasing his majority by almost 8,000 votes.

He said the single most important issue in this election was Brexit and respect for democracy.

The Conservative MP, who was first elected in 2015, said that leadership has been the other big factor for voters.

He said: "Jeremy Corbyn has a certain style of leadership and a certain set of values. Boris Johnson represents the views and values of the British people more accurately than the Labour leadership does.

“Each result in these turbulent political times is very much an individual result. I’m delighted that Bolton North East has turned blue. I’m delighted that the Leigh constituency has turned blue as well. That’s never been held by a Conservative in its history and it shows that there’s a political revolution ongoing."

 

Bolton North East

Conservative Gain

David Crausby, Labour – 19,381

Warren Fox, Liberal Democrats – 1,847

Trevor Jones, Brexit Party – 1,880

Mark Logan, Conservative – 19,759

Liz Spencer, Green Party – 689

 

Bolton South East

Labour HOLD

Mark Cunningham, Brexit Party – 2,968

David Figgins, Green Party – 791

Johno Lee, Conservative – 13,918

Yasmin Qureshi, Labour – 21,516

Kev Walsh, Liberal Democrats - 1,411

 

Bolton West

Conservative HOLD

Rebecca Forrest, Liberal Democrats – 2,704 

Chris Green, Conservative – 27,255 

Paris Hayes, Green Party – 939

Julie Hilling, Labour – 18,400