THE political landscape in Eastleigh remained largely unchanged as the Conservatives retained their seat.

A jubilant Mims Davies celebrated a landslide victory over her nearest rival and secured the constituency with more than 20,000 votes.

Liberal Democrats candidate Mike Thornton was defeated once again by the 41-year-old, who was elected as Eastleigh MP in 2015.

Meanwhile, it was a successful night for the Labour party as they gained 4,273 votes more than the previous election.

Ms Davies told the Echo that winning again was “amazing”.

She said: “It has been an immense privilege to serve as MP for the past two years. I look forward to getting back to work with my team for Eastleigh.”

Ms Davies said that infrastructure and protection of the green areas will be among her priorities along with safety and security, after people raised concerns following the recent terror attacks across the country.

“I feel we had a very strong, positive campaign showing I was listening to people. I think that message has really gone out,” she added.

When asked about his unsuccessful campaign, Lib Dem Mr Thornton said he thought UKIP votes had gone to the Conservatives and Labour and added that unless something different happens he will not stand at the next parliamentary election.

Meanwhile, Labour candidate Jill Payne said: “We had a great result in Eastleigh and I think that was because of our leader Jeremy Corbyn. I think people still vote tactically in Eastleigh and now that we have shown that we are very close to Liberal Democrats we hope that people will support us more.”

This year UKIP's Malcolm Jones gained 1,477 votes, 7,306 less than the 2015 election, beating the Greens' Ron Meldrum who secured 750 votes.

The Eastleigh results in full:

Mike Thornton (Liberal Democrats) 14,710

Mims Davies (Conservative) 28,889

Jill Payne (Labour) 11,454

Malcolm Jones, (UKIP) 1,477

Ron Meldrum, (Green Party) 750

Turnout - 71 per cent