GEORGE Hollingbery is heading back to the Houses of Parliament after retaining his Meon Valley seat for the Conservatives.

But the Tory, despite increasing his majority by 1,779, had mixed feelings following a disappointing night for his party.

He thanked his constituents and team for their ongoing support but the parliamentary private secretary to Prime Minster Theresa May declined to comment about the national result.

Hollingbery was a comfortable winner on the night, picking up 35,624 votes to secure a third consecutive term as MP for the Meon Valley.

The Alresford-based politician increased his majority by 4.7 per cent having collected 31,578 votes in the 2015 General Election.

But he had few words to say after the results were announced in Winchester Leisure Centre shortly after 3am this morning.

Hollingbery’s closest contender was Labour candidate, Sheena King, on 9,932 votes – up 4,276 on the party’s 2015 showing – while Martin Tod of the Liberal Democrats came third with 5,900 votes.

But it was a bad night for Paul Bailey as UKIP, who came second in the 2015 Meon Valley poll, were pushed into fourth.

Paul Nuttall’s party, which secured 7,665 votes two years ago, could only manage 1,435 this time round.

Andrew Hayward of the Greens came fifth with 1,301 votes, down from 1,831.

Voter turnout also increased from 71.25 per cent to 73.14 per cent.