Tories ease to victory in Solihull with five-figure majority in General Election 2019

The Conservatives have once again won a convincing victory in Solihull, securing a majority of more than 20,000.

Julian Knight, who has held the seat since 2015, was comfortably returned as the Tory MP.

Labour finished second in the constituency, just ahead of the Lib Dems. The Greens came in fourth place.

“The people of Solihull and the people of these islands have spoken with a very loud and distinct voice,” said Mr Knight.

“Even remainers like me are fed up with seeing democracy overturned.”

He said that Brexit had come up time and again on the doorstep during the campaign, while locally he said he would now focus on keeping Solihull Police Station open.

Nick Stephens, Labour’s candidate, conceded it had been a “very, very difficult” night for the party.

“The Tories have said that they would get Brexit done and that seems to have resonated in some places.”

Although he said Labour would need to reflect on the results he argued it was “unfair” that it had been punished for the way the government had handled things in recent years. He also feared for the future of public services like the NHS.

Liberal Democrat candidate Ade Adeyemo also said there needed to be some “soul-searching” for his party.

“The Lib Dems’ message has simply not cut through, which is a shame because actually 48 per cent of the country agrees with us and somehow we didn’t manage to bring them onboard.”

The Green Party’s Rosemary Sexton argued the election had illustrated the need for sweeping electoral reform.

“We are going to need to have serious talk about how we do politics in this country,” she said, citing concerns about first-past-the-post and the “disinformation” during the campaign.

* Solihull #GE2019Results:

Julian Knight (Conservative) – 32,309

Nick Stephens (Labour) – 11,036

Ade Adeyemo (Lib Dems) – 9,977

Rosemary Sexton (Green) – 2,022

Turn-out – 77.4 per cent.

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