Labour maintain grip on South-East

Labour celebrate their triumph in London

Labour has consolidated its strong position in the South-East.

The only Tory gains in the region were at Romford, Upminster and Castlepoint.

The Liberal Democrats gained one seat from the Tories with a sensational victory in Guildford.

In London, Labour hold 55 of the 74 seats, the Conservatives have 13 after winning two from Labour and the Liberal Democrats hold onto their six.

Yellow vote strengthened

Guildford's new MP, the Lib Dem Sue Doughty, won with a majority of nearly 5,000 after several tense recounts.

The sitting Conservative MP Nick Aubyn lost his place in the House of Commons.

Another significant result for the Liberal Democrats was in Kingston and Surbiton.

Ed Davey has gone from 56 to a 16,000 majority

Their candidate, Ed Davey, held on to his seat by a massive majority.

Mr Davey won almost 16,000 votes over the Conservative candidate, David Shaw - a 23% increase from last time.

The promised Liberal Democrat challenge to Michael Howard in Folkestone and Hythe failed to materialise.

In Berkshire, Lib Dem David Rendell scraped in, with his majority reduced by 6,000.

Labour consolidation

Labour held onto all of the eight seats it took in Kent in 1997, although its majority in five of those was reduced.

The only MPs in Berkshire to increase their majority were the three Labour MPs, Jane Griffiths and Martin Salter in Reading, and Fiona McTaggart in Slough.

The Hertfordshire constituency of Welwyn Hatfield had been on the Tories target list.

But Treasury Minister Melanie Johnson managed to hold onto her seat with a majority of just under 12,000.

All of the parties in Berkshire and Hertfordshire retained their seats from the last election.

Tory gains and losses

There was no significant revival for the Conservatives in the South-East, with most of their seats remaining outside London.

The exception to this was Romford's Andrew Rosindell took the seat from Labour's Eileen Gordon by nearly 6,000 votes.

In Kent, where the Tories made gains at the expense of the other two parties, Thanet North's Roger Gale more than doubled his majority to 6,600.

However, in Berkshire, Maidenhead Tory MP Theresa May saw her support dwindle to the point where her constituency can no longer be called a safe Conservative seat.