Julia Lopez has held onto her Hornchurch and Upminster seat in the general election, with considerable gains for Reform.

The Conservative MP successfully fended off a challenge from Reform UK's Nicholas Palmer, the surprising runner-up.

Speaking after she was declared the winner in the early hours of this morning (July 5), Ms Lopez said: "Door after door I met kind, loyal, decent, intelligent people and their spirit and the level of support they gave me kept me going."

Her victory comes despite a landslide win for Labour across the country, with leader Sir Keir Starmer set to become the new Prime Minister.

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Hornchurch and Upminster has been a safe Conservative seat, voting the Tories in for the last four general elections and beyond.

Despite this, it became clear shortly after the election was called that this year’s race would be close.

YouGov predicted a tight race before the count, a 35.5% Conservative victory with 32.8% of the vote to second-place Labour.

But it was Reform that challenged Ms Lopez the most.

In the borough’s other race, Conservative incumbent Andrew Rosindell held onto his seat of Romford.

Here are the full results in Hornchurch and Upminster.

Julia Lopez - Conservative Party - 15,260

Sunny Brar - Labour Party - 12,939

Nicholas Palmer - Reform UK - 13,317

Ian Sanderson - Liberal Democrats - 2,381

David Warren Durant - Independent - 394

Melanie Collins - Green Party - 2,620