Ludlow Lib Dem candidate thanks voters for their support
Ludlow Liberal Democrat election candidate Heather Kidd has thanked residents for their support.
Mrs Kidd sealed 8,537 votes in the general election, coming second to Conservative Philip Dunne, who secured the seat as Ludlow MP for a fifth time.
Despite losing out to the 32,185 votes in support of Mr Dunne, the Lib Dem candidate said it is now time to look to the future.
Mrs Kidd said: "I would like to give my sincere thanks to everyone that voted for me in Thursday's general election.
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"I have always tried to campaign on those issues that matter to us in Shropshire – our local services, our hospitals and the threats to our rural economy.
"As usual with our electoral system, the Liberal Democrats got a million-and-a-quarter more votes and had one seat fewer to show for it.
"However, in the Ludlow constituency we significantly outperformed the national swing, clearly eclipsing the Labour Party."
Challenger
She added: "The Liberal Democrats are now the clear challenger to the Tories here and we are eagerly looking forward to the Shropshire Council elections in 16 months time."
Mr Dunne swept aside the opposition in what turned out to be a landslide Tory victory nationally, as he secured a record majority.
His Labour opponent Kuldip Sahota gained 7,591 while the Green Party candidate Hilary Wendt achieved 1,912. The turnout in the constituency was 72.7 per cent.
Mr Dunne said he was delighted with his victory and that the election had finally settled the issue of Brexit.
“The most important issue has undoubtedly been to try and ensure that we had a Parliament that honoured the result of the referendum,” he said.
Meanwhile, Mr Sahota accepted it was a disappointing night for Labour, while Ms Wendt said it was a sobering evening for parties that supported remain.
Mr Dunne became Ludlow’s MP in 2005 when he defeated the then-Liberal Democrat MP Matthew Green by about 2,000 votes.
He increased his majority in 2010 to nearly 10,000 votes and in 2015 he secured a 19,000 majority, which he maintained in 2017.
