THE Conservative party has held their seat in Bracknell and James Sunderland is the constituency’s new Member of Parliament (MP).

The Conservative party received a total of 31,894 votes, winning by a majority of 19,829.

The Labour party came in second with 12,065 votes.

LIVE ELECTION BLOG: AS IT HAPPENED

The result means Mr Sunderland will be Bracknell’s new MP making him the third consecutive Conservative to be elected since the constituency formed in 1997.

He will replace Bracknell’s previous MP, Dr Phillip Lee, who quit the Conservative party in September and defected to the Liberal Democrats who he represented in Wokingham during this election.

READ ALSO: Bracknell MP Dr Phillip Lee defects to Liberal Democrats

Following the results, Mr Sunderland said he felt “amazing”.

He explained: “I have wanted to do this for a long time, the opportunity came along, Bracknell constituency placed their faith in me and I’m delighted to have got a great majority.”

He continued to thank all of the voters for their support and said he had been “blown away by the welcome” he received.

He added: “I just think it’s been a very straightforward campaign, very good natured, very positive and people have been so warm and friendly.

“That’s Bracknell for you.”

The results were announced shortly before 2am.

The Labour party was followed by Kaweh Beheshtizadeh from the Liberal Democrats (7,749), then Derek Florey from the Greens (2,089) and lastly the Independent candidate, Olivio Barreto (553).

This will be the 22nd year the Conservative party has represented Bracknell since the constituency formed in 1997.

During that time, only two different MPs have served the constituency – Andrew MacKay who served as a MP from 1997 until 2010 and Dr Phillip Lee who served from 2010 until 2019.

READ ALSO: Bracknell candidate general election results from 1997 to 2017.

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 99% chance of retaining their seat in Bracknell.

Following this, Labour candidate, Paul Bidwell, said he was feeling “hopeful, but with the exit polls and the history – Labour has never ever had a sitting MP in Bracknell- I have got to prepare myself for maybe not such a good night”.

After the result, Mr Bidwell said it had been a “very disappointing night for Labour nationally" and that translated into Bracknell, too.

The overall result, detailing which party has won the election, is expected to be revealed at lunchtime today (December 13).