Dean Russell will be the next MP for Watford after the Conservatives dominated the vote in the town.

Mr Russell secured 26,421 votes, while nearest rival Chris Ostrowski received 21,988 votes for Labour.

After the result was announced, Mr Russell said he felt “incredibly honoured” to be voted in as the new MP.

He continued: “It has been a long few weeks and years to get to this point.

“I have to say I am building on an amazing legacy of Richard Harrington. And for me getting here today it’s about all the volunteers and family who have believed in me and helped me knock on doors.

“I have to say that being voted in is a vindication of what our Prime Minister wants nationally and that’s delivering on the referendum. For me personally my family here go back 130 years in Watford so I feel very proud that I am now able to represent the town.

“I love this town and I look forward to being part of the community.”

After coming second to Mr Russell, Mr Ostrowski felt the loss came down to the Tory vote growing nationally.

Mr Ostrowski finished just over 2,000 behind the Tories at the 2017 election, although was just under 5,000 behind in the December poll.

He said: “We are very pleased with the campaign we have run and we want to make sure that we keep doing that here in Watford.

“We have the national trend so I think we are very pleased with that.”

Liberal Democrat candidate Ian Stotesbury secured just over 9,000 votes in the election, while Michael McGetrick received 333 votes for the Social Democratic Party.

Before the vote was announced, Mr Stotesbury said he “wouldn’t win the seat” in Watford following the release of the broadcaster’s exit poll.

Mr McGetrick was the only candidate who did not turn up at the election count this evening.

Follow our live blog: GENERAL ELECTION 2019: Live updates and results