Stephen Williams has been re-elected as the Member of Parliament for Bristol West, in what was a decisive victory for Stephen and the Bristol West Liberal Democrats.
In the very early hours of Friday morning, the 7th May 2010, at 3.38am, Stephen Williams was declared as the winner of the Bristol West election with 26,593 votes, increasing his majority to 11,366, winning 56% of the vote.
Under the new boundaries for Bristol West, which see the wards of Henleaze, Stoke Bishop and Westbury on Trym moved to Bristol North West and the wards of Easton and Lawrence Hill joining Bristol West, Labour were expected to be in close contention and had made Bristol West their target seat number 20; however, the Labour candidate, Paul Smith, received only 15,227 votes - a swing of 9% from Labour to the Liberal Democrats.
This represents one of the biggest swings to the Liberal Democrats in the country, with Stephen Williams increasing his majority from 5,128 to 11,366. The turnout for this election was higher than in 2005, with 66.9% of the electorate (or 55,347 people) casting their votes.
The Liberal Democrats also enjoyed success in the local elections in Bristol, retaining their control of Bristol City Council with an increased majority and gaining two extra seats: Horfield and Kingsweston.
"I thank everyone in Bristol West who put their trust in me. The scale of the victory is particularly pleasing. I look forward to working with all the communities across the new Bristol West seat, which now stretches from Clifton to Easton.
"The Liberal Democrats secured 23% of the vote across the country and a million more supporters compared to 2005. Yet we still have less than 10% of the House of Commons seats. The Conservatives won only 36% of the vote, so have no mandate to govern alone. Electoral reform and a new politics are clearly essential. My colleagues and I will be working in the coming days to secure a stable government that can tackle our economic crisis and usher in a new era of deep political reform."
