HYNDBURN turned blue as the seat was won by the Conservatives for the first time in more than 25 years.

Labour incumbent Graham Jones lost a majority of almost 6,000 from the 2017 election as his Conservative challenger Sara Britcliffe was successful in her bid to be the consituency’s first Tory MP since 1992.

She becomes the first Conservative MP for Hyndburn since Ken Hargreaves, who served between 1983 and 1992.

And Ms Britcliffe succeeded where her dad, Peter, failed.

Mr Britcliffe twice tried to unseat Labour MP Greg Pope at the turn of the century but ultimately fell short.

In winning the seat, Ms Britcliffe turned a 5,815 Tory deficit into a 2,951 majority.

She said: “I would like to thank the people of Hyndburn and Haslingden for allowing me to be in this position and representing you in parliament.

“I will be working for everyone in the constituency.

“I think Hyndburn and Haslingden has been asking for a change for a long time. They want someone that listens to them.

“"People are completely fed up with what's gone on in the last three years.

“They want to get Brexit done and focus on what matters to them.

“People have voted on their priorities and that is to get Brexit done."

Former MP Mr Jones made a swift exit after the announcement and declined to speak to the press.

Earlier in the evening, Hyndburn Council leader Miles Parkinson said the campaign had been difficult.

He said: “"It is looking like a landslide.

“There is still a long time to go but some of the results so far show that the Labour vote has swung 15 to 17 per cent and if that is replicated across the country, it's extremely bad news.

“"It will be a strong message to the party nationally that we need to reconnect with working class voters in traditional Labour heartlands.

“It has been difficult on the doorstep. Bad weather has not helped and I think the electorate has not been enthusiastic. Our message does not seemed to have got through."

Brexit Party candidate Greg Butt polled 2,156 votes while Liberal Democrat Adam Waller-Slack scored 1,226 votes and Katrina Brockbank for the Greens got 845

Turnout this year was 42,406 (60.07 per cent) - compared to 45,307 (61.8 per cent) in 2017 and 42,887 (62.8 per cent) in 2015.

Nationally the result in Hyndburn reflected a poor night across the country for the Labour party.

Exit polls published as polling stations closed predicted a Conservative majority of 86 - the biggest since Margaret Thatcher was Prime Minister.

It suggested the Conservatives would gain 50 seats, to have 368 MPs and Labour would lose 71 to have 191 MPs.

Boris Johnson's gamble on a snap election looked to have paid off handsomely as he headed for a landslide General Election victory.

The Tories snatched seat after seat in Labour heartlands as the PM's 'get Brexit done' election message hit home with working class Leave voters.

A BBC/Sky/ITV exit poll put the Tories on 368 seats and was borne out by early results as support for Labour slumped in its Brexit-voting heartlands.