The critical election of a new MP for the Somerton & Frome patch has been declared with the win to Liberal Democrat candidate Sarah Dyke with a healthy majority.

From the outset the Lib Dems were beaming in the count hall, telling Nub News, even before the official counting had begun that they had "smashed it."

The results were : Lorna Corke (Christian Peoples Alliance); 256

Martin Dimery (Green); 3,944

Sarah Dyke (Liberal Democrat); 21,187

Bruce Evans (Reform UK);1,303

Neil Guild (Labour);1,009

Rosie Mitchell (Independent); 635

Faye Purbrick (Conservative); 10,179

Peter Richardson (UK Independence Party).275

There were 97 spoiled ballots.

The official counting of votes began at the Bath & West in Shepton Mallet at just after midnight following the announcement of a small turn out of just 44.32%. That is way down of the election in 2019 when the Conservative David Warburton, who resigned following a series of scandals, secured 36,230 votes in a turn out of 75.6 %.

It was a night of high political drama not just in Somerset with the result announced by the High Sheriff of Somerset, Robert Drewett, who was in full regalia, dating back to the mid 18th century, and a man in tights indeed. He told Nub News that without wanting to burden the tax payers with the cost of his outfit, he had sourced it all second hand, including the jacket from the previous High Sheriff of the Isle Of Wight, a certain well-known gardener Alan Titchmarsh.

There were two other by-elections. Selby and Ainsty in North Yorkshire and Boris Johnson's Uxbridge and South Ruislip seat in west London which was held by the Conservatives.

Keir Mather won the by-election in Selby for Labour, becoming the youngest MP at Westminster in the process at 25 years old.

However, the Tories held Uxbridge. The final count was 13,965 for Steve Tuckwell, of the Conservative Party, and 13,470 for Labour's Danny Beales.

Labour blamed their own London Mayor Sadiq Khan's ULEZ policy as the reason why they did not win.