Labour’s Matt Western wins Warwick and Leamington

Matt Western (Labour) has been elected as Member of Parliament for Warwick and Leamington, defeating incumbent Conservative Chris White.

Western won with 25,227 votes and 46.7% vote share – White claimed second place with 24,021 votes (44.4%). He overturned a Conservative majority of 6,606 from 2015. Western beat White by 1,202 votes with a 7.6% swing.

Western defeated four other candidates to win the seat – Chris White (Conservative), Nick Solman (Liberal Democrats), Jonathan Chilvers (Green Party) and Bob Dhillon (UKIP).

White had been elected to the seat in 2010, defeating Labour incumbent James Plaskitt.

Western has served as a Warwickshire County Councillor for the past four years. He stood on a platform which emphasised public transport, building lost-cost housing to deal with homelessness and developing a student housing policy.

Labour’s vote rose by 11.8% of the total share. Liberal Democrat Nick Solman came third with 2,810 votes.

Turnout was 72.8% , an increase from 70.7% in 2015.