Damien Moore wins Southport for the Conservatives with an increased majority. He won 22,914 votes, followed by Labour’s Liz Savage with 18,767, with Lib Dem John Wright in last place with 6,499.

Damien commented...

I would like to thank the residents of Southport for putting their faith in me for a second term as their MP - it is a huge honour and privilege to have secured more than 22,900 votes and more than 47% of the vote share. I will continue to do the very thing that I promised back in 2017 - to stand-up for you, your family, and our town.

Veteran Southport journalist Martin Hovden writes,

Mr Moore's victory in Southport was accompanied by huge gains for the Tories in many parts of England - especially the Midlands and the North - and Wales.




And at 5.06am this morning the Conservatives were officially declared the winners after passing the finishing line of 326 seats. The BBC is predicting they will end the day with a majority of 74 in the House of Commons.




This large majority will allow Prime Minister Boris Johnson to “Get Brexit Done” - a policy backed by Damien Moore - with senior Tories stressing they want the Brexit Bill passed in the Commons before Christmas, as a prelude to the UK leaving the EU on January 31.





Unless the Fixed Term Parliament Act is abolished, Mr Moore will be Southport's MP for the next five years.




But he will have Labour snapping at his heels. Liz Savage has achieved remarkable success in recent years, taking Labour from being a poor third in elections to turning our town into a straight two-horse race between them and the Tories - at the cost of the Lib Dems, many of whom are now voting tactically for Labour.




The collapse of the Lib Dem vote puts the final nail in the coffin of the Lib Dem parliamentary dynasty in Southport which was once headed by former MPs Ronnie Fearn and John Pugh. And the loss of party leader Jo Swinson in the early hours adds to the view they are now a spent force.




The big question for Southport Labour Party is do they stay loyal to party leader Jeremy Corbyn. They are very proud of the fact Mr Corbyn has visited the resort several times, but he is being blamed by many for Labour's downfall nationally, along with his neutral stance on Labour's promised new Brexit deal.




Will they remain Corbynistas?




Mr Corbyn gave a strong hint last night that he will stand down as leader after the party has a “period of reflection”.

Originally Posted by roving-eye

[FONT=Arial]But he will have Labour snapping at his heels. Liz Savage has achieved remarkable success in recent years, taking Labour from being a poor third in elections to turning our town into a straight two-horse race between them and the Tories - at the cost of the Lib Dems, many of whom are now voting tactically for Labour.


[FONT=Arial]The collapse of the Lib Dem vote puts the final nail in the coffin of the Lib Dem parliamentary dynasty in Southport

If the Lib Dems voted tactically as you suggest, in other words, they lent their vote to Labour this time round, how do you know they wont vote Lib Dems in 4/5 years time?

So, Tories increase their vote by 4373, and the Labour increased their vote by 3140 with the help of the Lib Dem vote. Not really the "remarkable success" you're trying to make out.

2019 - Tories took 47% to Lab 38% - 9% difference

2017 - Tories took 38% to Lab 32% - 6% difference

So again, with the help of the Lib Dems, Labour have successfully managed to decrease their percentage of the vote, now that's a "remarkable success". :)

Originally Posted by Tentill4

If the Lib Dems voted tactically as you suggest, in other words, they lent their vote to Labour this time round, how do you know they wont vote Lib Dems in 4/5 years time?

So, Tories increase their vote by 4373, and the Labour increased their vote by 3140 with the help of the Lib Dem vote. Not really the "remarkable success" you're trying to make out.

2019 - Tories took 47% to Lab 38% - 9% difference

2017 - Tories took 38% to Lab 32% - 6% difference

So again, with the help of the Lib Dems, Labour have successfully managed to decrease their percentage of the vote, now that's a "remarkable success". :)

You're making the misassumption that those who elected Fearn and Pugh for all those years were all Lib Dems rather than largely Labour supporters voting tactically at those times.

Originally Posted by salus.populi

You're making the misassumption that those who elected Fearn and Pugh for all those years were all Lib Dems rather than largely Labour supporters voting tactically at those times.

I honestly never knew tactical voting went on in those days, I thought it was a recent idea. I've always been of the opinion that you should vote for the party whose policies you preferred, not sticking to one party cause that's the way it's always been.

Originally Posted by Tentill4

I honestly never knew tactical voting went on in those days, I thought it was a recent idea. I've always been of the opinion that you should vote for the party whose policies you preferred, not sticking to one party cause that's the way it's always been.

.
Up till 2015 I always (from 1986) voted Lib Dem in Southport as an anti-Tory vote as Labour had no chance here.
Wouldn't do it again as Labour are now genuine contenders here not to mention the actions of the Lib Dems in coalition from 2010 and the antics of some of their councilors locally.

I voted Tory, because I'm a leave voter and there wasn't any choice. I could have spolit my vote, but that's not me, I will always make a choice. I hope that Mr Johnson delivers now. :)

Originally Posted by salus.populi

You're making the misassumption that those who elected Fearn and Pugh for all those years were all Lib Dems rather than largely Labour supporters voting tactically at those times.

Fearn got in because previous to that we had a Tory MP who didn't even live north of London and only visited for the Conservatives Christmas Party!

Although think Liz would’ve been a better MP for Southport. Let’s hope that locally in the next election the likes of Cllr Dawson are replaced with better and less divisive amateur politicians. The Lib Dem’s have created fear and taken Southport for granted for too long, John Wright’s campaign affirmed this.

One can suspect the Lib Dems will be further disappointed to lose the opportunity to funnel MP office costs into their local party funds by renting from themselves that they enjoyed for many years.

Count it any way you wish both Labour and Tory increased their vote in Southport, the Lib-Dems took a kicking, they certainly didn't help themselves here by trotting out the old and out of date mantra that Labour couldn't win here, that they were the only alternative to the Tories, it is very clear that is not the case.

Unfortunately the Tory increase was more than Labour's, but 5 more years of Toryism will probably put paid to that.