Douglas Carswell held onto his Clacton seat for UKIP last night, but saw his majority severely slashed.
Going into the campaign he commanded a 12,404 majority over his former party the Conservatives, a lead he extended on his own previous majority at the by-election last October.
He won last night with 19,642 votes, with his Tory rival Giles Watling polling 16,205 – giving Mr Carswell a majority of just 3,437.
In his victory speech Mr Carswell said: “I will work with anyone from any side of the political spectrum who is serious about political reform.
“For me there is no greater honour to be an MP. I answer directly to you. You are my boss and I will never forget that.
“People here voted for UKIP and got UKIP. But across the country around five million people voted for UKIP or Green, and they will be lucky to get a mere handful of MPs, compared to the SNP.
“The time for political reform is now.”
Mr Watling said: “What a ride. It has been a long campaign.”
“We are getting there but there is more work to do.”
Turnout was 64.4%, with a total of 44,383 votes cast.
Senior Tories said they were pleased with the result, with Conservative East of England MEP Vicky Ford saying if they could more than halve the majority this time “we can take it next time”.
However despite the big strides made in cutting into UKIP’s lead at parliamentary level, the Conservatives were not looking so hopeful at district level.
Mick Page, Conservative leader of Tendring District Council, had predicted his party will lose overall control of the authority when the local election votes are counted later today.
They currently hold 31 of the 60 seats.
Mr Page remained confident of the Conservatives being the biggest group, but said a coalition was on the cards to set up an administration.
He also admitted he could lose his own seat, which is only being contested by himself and UKIP.
He said: “UKIP has polled very heavily in all parts of Tendring. It is a matter of how many we hold on to.
“We will hold most of our seats in the northern part of the district.
“We will still be the biggest party, but it will be a coalition of some type.
“If I am still leader it would be open to negotiation with all the other parties, who I have worked with through-out the year. I am happy to work with anybody to keep a stable council for Tendring and keep the services people require.
“I think my ward is very close, too close to be called. This is partly because I have not had time, as leader of the council, to go around and do what I used to do so much.”
If Mr Page did lose his seat he would still remain as a county councillor, where he holds a position as deputy cabinet member.
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