CONSERVATIVE Stuart Andrew has been re-elected in Pudsey with a substantial increase in his majority.

Mr Andrew won 26,453 votes - increasing his majority from 317 to 3,517. His nearest rival Labour's Jane Aitchison won 22,936 votes.

Ian Dowling of the Liberal Democrats came third with 3,088 and Quinn Daley from the Green Party came fourth with 894, narrowly beating Bob Buxton from the Yorkshire Party who gained 844.

Mr Andrew was first elected as MP for Pudsey in 2010, winning the seat from Labour. He was re-elected in the 2015 and 2017 elections.

He said he was "thrilled" with the latest result.

Mr Andrew said knew he was going to face a battle in Pudsey after his narrow majority in the last general election.

"It turned out to be the mother of all battles. Labour shipped in hundreds of activists and it was a big fight - but our team was superb.
"We were significantly outnumbered but my activists were all local people and they knew the issues that people were concerned about."
He stressed: "It was clear that people just wanted parliament to get on with the job that it was elected to do."
He added: "What I was finding on the doorstep is that the majority of people - whether they voted leave or remain - thought the country had made a democratic choice and we needed to get on with it. I believe they were very unhappy with the way parliament was behaving."
He said a distrust of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn also played an important part in the result.
"I have never known so many people who said they had always voted for Labour and were voting for us this time," he said.
"People didn't like Corbyn. It came up on the doorstep time and time again. People were very worried about him being in charge and they saw all these amazing promises being offered but they didn't believe them."
Mr Andrew said he was under no illusion about the scale of the task nationally.
"I think this is now the time that we have to put all of the divisions behind us," he said. "We have to do that by accepting the result of the referendum and of the general election."
He said he would now continue to do his best to support his constituents on important local issues such as transport, congestion on the A65, and defending the green belt.
"I have always tried to work closely with people on issues that matter to them, and I will continue to do this," he said.