General Election 2010: Colne Valley goes Conservative

May 7 2010 By Barry Gibson

Jason McCartney

CONSERVATIVE Jason McCartney said he was "gobsmacked" to be elected the new MP for Colne Valley.

His supporters cheered at Huddersfield Sports Centre this morning as the Honley man won the seat from Labour.

Mr McCartney took 20,440 votes, with Lib Dem Clr Nicola Turner coming second on 15,603 and Labour’s Debbie Abrahams finishing third on 14,589.

Speaking to the Examiner just after he was elected MP, he said: "|’m gobsmacked. We’ve run a good campaign and my team and I have worked damn hard."

Mr McCartney pledged to represent all the people of Colne Valley in Parliament.

"I will say what I think and I will stand up to the area," he said. "I’m not a partisan person, I will work with councillors and members of other parties to make the Colne Valley an even better place to live.

"I want to get cracking on my work as an MP, to bring more jobs to the area and to deal with problems like crime."

Mr McCartney, who the Lib Dems labelled "an outsider from Leeds" during the campaign,  said he had deep roots in the constituency.

"I’ve fully immersed myself in the community I love," he said. "The issues that affect the people, affect me. When they are snowed in, I’m snowed in too."

Mr McCartney boosted his party’s share of the vote from 32.8% at the last general election in 2005 to 37% this time. Labour dropped from first to third, with their share of the vote falling from 35.8% to 26.4%. Clr Turner increased the Lib Dems’ share of the vote from 24.2% to 28.2%, moving her party from third to second.

Mr McCartney said Labour’s loss of support was "not a reflection" on Kali Mountford, the Labour MP who stood down at this election on health grounds.

He added: "Debbie Abrahams ran a good positive campaign and I’m not surprised that she almost came second."