James Cartlidge has held his South Suffolk Seat in the General Election, albeit with a reduced majority, and has been appointed to the Shadow Cabinet as Shadow Secretary of State for Defence.
He secured 16,082 votes over his Labour opponent Emma Bishton who scored 13,035.
James won the constituency in 2019 with a 22,897 majority after scoring 33,270 votes and has held the seat since May 2015.
After the Count at Endeavour House in Ipswich, celebrating his hold, despite the fact Labour is set to form the next Government, Mr Cartlidge said:
“This has been the toughest election out of the three elections I’ve been at and I want to say a huge thank you to my team. I’m immensely proud and chuffed to have got this result. I need to re-earn that trust and keep fighting for those people that voted. I want to say thank you to those of you in Suffolk South for voting for me. It’s a special privilege to be an MP especially in this beautiful constituency and I will keep doing my bit. On the national scene, it’s been an extraordinary evening and a hugely disappointing night for our party and I hope the Labour party continue to show the support for Ukraine that we’ve shown.”