THEY may have stayed in power nationally but Labour campaigners were left licking their wounds after a disappointing night for the party at the general election in Basingstoke.

Although turnout increased, Labour saw a substantial tumble in its vote. And this despite a campaign that involved pre-election visits from Cabinet ministers and the Prime Minister's wife, Cherie Blair, to a seat that was in the top five of the party's Conservative-held targets.

Labour candidate Paul Harvey said he had enjoyed the campaign and would stand again if the party let him.

He said: "The result is consistent with the national swing and I respect that. But at the next election there will be boundary changes which mean a bright future for Labour. A majority of just over 4,000 votes is not a lot."

Mr Harvey said the decline in the Labour vote had been down to Liberal Democrat voters returning to their former party after voting tactically in 2001.

Mr Harvey congratulated Mrs Miller on her victory, but said he was pleased to see his party achieve a third successive term in Government for the first time in its history.

He said: "There will continue to be investment in services like hospitals and police - things that make a difference to people's lives."

However, he accused the Liberal Democrats of using misleading graphics on their Basingstoke literature and said the issue of immigration had been over-exploited nationally by Conservatives.

Mr Harvey, who is a member of the Cabinet at Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council as part of the joint Liberal Democrat/Labour administration, said he would wait to see how the coalition would get on. He said: "My focus is on the job."

The greatest gains in the election were made by the Liberal Democrats, who increased their vote from 6,693 to 9,952.

Liberal Democrat candidate Jen Smith said she was disappointed not to win, but added: "I've never been prouder to be a Lib Dem. I would really like to thank the people of Basingstoke for this significant shift to the Lib Dems. We will demonstrate our commitment to working hard for Basingstoke and being a strong voice for local people."

Of the smaller parties, the United Kingdom Independence Party recorded the largest support - polling 1,044 votes. Despite losing his deposit, UKIP candidate Peter Effer said: "I'm very happy with our support."

Green Party candidate Darren Shirley said the 928 votes his party won had provided a real platform for the future. He said: "I'm pleased with that considering we started from nothing."

Of the other parties, Roger Robertson of the British National Party polled 821 votes and Roger Macnair of the Millennium Council 148.

Mr Macnair completed his 10-day 24-hour vigil at the bandstand in the War Memorial Park and said it had taught him about the concerns of real people.

The number of postal votes applied for at the election was 13,496 out of an electorate of 75,996.