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| Conservatives win Newark by-election amid UKIP challenge | Conservatives win Newark by-election amid UKIP challenge |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| The Conservative Party have won the Newark by-election, retaining the seat with a majority of more than 7,000. | The Conservative Party have won the Newark by-election, retaining the seat with a majority of more than 7,000. |
| Candidate Robert Jenrick polled 17,431 votes, beating UKIP's Roger Helmer, who finished second with 10,028 votes. | Candidate Robert Jenrick polled 17,431 votes, beating UKIP's Roger Helmer, who finished second with 10,028 votes. |
| Labour's Michael Payne came third with 6,842 votes but it was a disastrous result for the Lib Dems, who were beaten into sixth place. | Labour's Michael Payne came third with 6,842 votes but it was a disastrous result for the Lib Dems, who were beaten into sixth place. |
| Candidate David Watts finished behind an Independent and the Green Party, losing his deposit in the process. | Candidate David Watts finished behind an Independent and the Green Party, losing his deposit in the process. |
| The Lib Dems' 1,004 votes represents their worst performance in a post-war English by-election. | |
| Opinion polls had suggested the Tories would hold on to what was considered a safe seat, where they had recorded a majority of 16,152 in the 2010 election. | |
| The resignation of former Conservative MP Patrick Mercer, who quit over a cash-for-questions scandal, had raised expectations in UKIP that they could cause a major upset by winning their first Westminster seat. | |
| But UKIP's performance on the night did not reflect their strong showing in the recent European elections and they fell well short of their ambition of taking 30% of the vote. |