Results and reaction: Here's all you need to know about how Harborough's 2019 General Election seat was won

Mr O’Brien said he was “honoured and humbled” as his crushing victory mirrored the stunning national Tory landslide.

The night in numbers

Neil O’Brien stretched his majority by almost 5000 votes to 17,278.

Mr O’Brien, 41, polled 31,698 votes as the result was announced at Parklands Leisure Centre in Oadby at 3.45am.

Labour’s Celia Hibbert trailed in second on 14,420 votes while Liberal Democrat Zuffar Haq attracted 9103 votes.

The Green Party’s Darren Woodiwiss got 1709 votes and Independent Robin Lambert brought up the rear with 389 votes.

The result was finally announced by Tim Hercock, High Sheriff of Leicestershire, after dozens of ballot boxes were ferried in from 56 polling stations scattered throughout the far-flung Harborough constituency.

Some 57,534 people turned out to vote on a wretched day soaked by torrential rain – a turnout figure of almost 72 per cent.

What Neil O'Brien (Conservative) had to say about the result

Mr O’Brien told cheering supporters as he held on to the Harborough seat on Friday the 13th: “I’d like to thank all the counting agents and staff here tonight who make democracy work.

“I’d also like to thank my campaign team.

“My biggest thanks are to the electorate.

“I am honoured and humbled to be re-elected as MP for Harborough with more votes and an increased majority from 2017.”

He added after the first December general election since 1923: “It’s been a great night for the Conservatives both here locally and nationally.

“Now I want to get on and do more work on such huge local issues as the NHS, sentencing and planning reform.

“I’d also like to thank my family who have been incredibly supportive.”

What Labour’s Celia Hibbert had to say about the result

Labour’s Ms Hibbert told the Harborough Mail: “The national trend has been dire for Labour tonight so we’ve done well here.

“We’ve fought a formidable campaign from start to finish.

“We have done especially well considering we haven’t come down on one side or the other on Brexit.

“I’ve had a fantastic team behind me and I’m proud of them.

“I’ll keep fighting our corner and banging the drum for Labour.”

What Liberal Democrat's Zuffar Haq had to say about the result

Mr Haq said: “It’s not the result we Liberal Democrats wanted or were fighting for – either nationally or locally.

“We will go away and regroup, refocus and try to come back even stronger.”

What the Green Party's Darren Woodiwiss had to say about the result

Mr Woodiwiss said: “I’m not surprised – this result was preordained.

“Nothing will change until we change our electoral system and introduce proportional representation.

“But I’ll be prepared to work with Neil for the good of local people as much as I can.”

What Independent Robin Lambert had to say about the result

Mr Lambert said: “I’m disappointed but I’ve won more votes here than when I stood as an Independent in London.

“I’d like to thank the Mail and local media for covering this count tonight and the campaign.

“I’ll be keeping a close eye on Mr O’Brien and the government.”

The Leicestershire South seat

Alberto Costa (Conservative) was re-elected for the seat of Leicestershire South.

The results were as follows:

Alberto Costa (Conservative) 36,791

Tristan Koriya (Labour) 12,787

Phil Knowles (Lib Dem) 5,452

Nick Cox (Green) 2,439