Alok Sharma held onto his Reading West seat in a night when the Conservative Party won a majority.

The Conservative Party candidate won in Reading West with 24,393 votes, beating Labour challenger Rachel Eden.

The Reading West election count lasted until just after 4am.

Mr Sharma beat Labour challenger Rachel Eden by around 4,000 votes.

Mr Sharma said: “It’s been a very good result in Reading West.

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"It is very humbling when people put their trust in you. I have to repay that trust and that is absolutely what I will be doing.

“When it comes to the national picture, we will see where the results end up, but certainly the exit poll the BBC put out suggests there will be a very good Conservative government.

“That is what our country needed. Parliament has been gridlocked over a number of years.

“I hope we will now be able to go forward, deliver on Brexit, but also deliver on all the investment into public services and keeping our economy strong and making sure we are creating more value-added jobs.”

The Conservative politician, who has been Secretary of State for International Development since July 2019, will now serve his fourth term as an MP.

He said he wants to focus on investment in NHS services, getting more funding to improve transport links and tackling illegal encampments.

Ms Eden received 20,276 votes.

She said: “It wasn’t our night but I am very proud of the campaign we ran.

"Reading West is my home and I will always put it first. I will still keeping fighting for it.”

Liberal Democrats candidate Meri O’Connell finished third in Reading West, receiving 4,460 votes, while Jamie Whitham, of the Green Party finished fourth with 1,236 votes.

Mr Sharma was first elected in 2010.

An exit poll for the BBC, ITV and Sky News, which forecasts what may happen in the general election, was released at 10pm last night (December 12) and suggested the Conservatives would win with a majority of 86.

The breakdown for each constituency also showed the Conservatives had a 99per cent chance of retaining their seat in Reading West.

In the other Reading election Matt Rodda, of the Labour Party, also held onto his seat, winning in Reading East with 27,102 votes ahead of Tory hopeful Craig Morley.