IT was third time lucky for Giles Watling as the Conservative swept Ukip aside to win the Clacton seat with a massive 15,828-vote majority.

The Frinton actor and councillor was returned as the constituency’s new MP after gaining 27,031 votes in Thursday’s General Election.

Mr Watling, 64, who starred in 1980s sitcom Bread, gained 61.2% of the vote.

Labour candidate Tasha Osben came second with 11,203 votes. Ukip was beaten into third place with Paul Oakley gaining just 3,357 votes.

Following his election, Mr Watling said: “I’m absolutely thrilled and astonished – it was the most extraordinary result.

“It has been a fair old journey here. I fought two other elections – one I lost by 12,400 votes and the second by 3,400, so there was a good swing my way.

“But this huge majority that I got is just extraordinary and very humbling – I am very honoured.

“Thank you to the people of Clacton – I’m going to work very hard for you.”

Gazette:

  • Giles Watling (Con)

Despite the expectation of a hung parliament, Mr Watling said he backed Prime Minister Theresa May to negotiate with the EU over Brexit.

He added: “I think there are two reasons people voted for me – the first being the national picture. We desperately need strength and stability to deal with the 27 countries of the EU in the Brexit negotiations.

“The people of Clacton, at least, were willing to give Theresa May a strong mandate to negotiate Brexit.

“But I like to think it’s at least partly to do with me – I’ve been working in the local council for the last ten years and we’ve had a lot of success.

“We have brought in some £50million of investment in the last five years, £36million of that was for the sea defences of which we are immensely proud.

“I have been the portfolio holder for regeneration for some time and we have also had some success there. “

When asked whether he thought Ukip were finished in Clacton, Mr Watling said he would “never say never” and that he expected Ukip would contest future elections in Clacton.

Mr Watling said he would also remain as a councillor for the time being.

Mr Watling added: “From the bottom of my heart I thank my family for putting up with the odd hours, the sleepless nights and organising the many people who came to our house to offer their services.

“Most of all I thank the voters who have put their confidence in me.

“I am proud to have been a part of a district council administration which brought so much to this area through difficult times.

“I look forward to serving you as your Member of Parliament and expanding on the work I have been doing so far.

“The Clacton constituency has a great future and I am honoured to have been chosen to be a part of it.

“Now it's time to roll up the sleeves and get on with it for Clacton.”

Mr Watling was standing for election in Clacton for the third time.

He had cut former Clacton MP Douglas Carswell's majority from 12,404 votes at the Clacton by-election in 2014 to just 3,437 votes in 2015.

Clacton had returned Ukip’s only MP in 2015, but Douglas Carswell quit the party in March declaring it was “job done” for Ukip after Prime Minister Theresa May signed the Article 50 papers, officially triggering the UK’s withdrawal from the EU.

He announced he would not be standing for re-election when Mrs May called the election.

Gazette:

  • Paul Oakley (Ukip)

Ukip's candidate Mr Oakley said he was "very disappointed" by the result.

"People believed the rubbish that it was job done," he said.

"But it is absolutely not job done for Ukip.

"We will go dormant for a while, but we will be ready and waiting to come back to make the argument for a proper Brexit.

"I'm very worried that Theresa May has damaged the country by potentially letting in Jeremy Corbyn and a hard Labour government, which is bad for the country and for Brexit.

"I don't think it went wrong for us here. We had a good campaign in Clacton."

Gazette:

  • Tasha Osben (Lab)

It was a night of mixed emotions for Labour's Tasha Osben, who saw her party's share of the vote in Clacton increase from 14.4% in 2015 to 25.4%.

"This whole campaign has been a roller coaster of emotions - I'm delighted the Ukip vote has collapsed here and I'm happy with how we have done," she said.

"It's the best result we have had in 15 years here.

"I think people were drawn to my message. I have spoken to many life-long Conservative voters who voted for me, which is unprecedented.

“Ultimately it came down to a lot of scaremongering in the papers in the last few days of the campaign.

"A lot of people were concerned that Jeremy Corbyn was a 'terrorist sympathiser' and that he doesn’t agree with shooting to kill terrorists, which is a complete misrepresentation of his views.

“In the end it came down to dirty politics and right-wing media.

"We have seen a massive improvement during this campaign and hopefully that will continue into the future."

Liberal Democrat David Grace came fourth with 887 votes, beating Green candidate Chris Southall, who gained 719 votes.

Independent Caroline Shearer gained 449 votes, the English Democrats’ Robin Tilbrook gained 289 votes, and independent Nick Martin came in last place with 210 votes.

RESULT:

Giles Watling (Con) 27,031* (61.2%)

Tasha Osben (Lab) 11,203 (25.4%)

Paul Oakley (Ukip) 3,357 (7.6%)

David Grace (Lib Dem) 887 (2.0%)

Chris Southall (Green) 719 (1.6%)

Caroline Shearer (Ind) 449 (1.0%)

Robin Tilbrook (Eng Dems) 289 (0.7%)

Nick Martin (Ind) 210 (0.5%)

Conservative GAIN

Majority: 15,828 (35.8%)

Turnout: 44,145 (63.7%)