NEW Labour MP Lloyd Hatton said it is the "privilege of my life" to represent his home town as MP.
In a night of huge losses for the Conservative Party and huge gains for Labour, Mr Hatton and his party overturned a majority of around 17,000 to win.
Outgoing MP Richard Drax was first elected in 2010 and has been the MP for the past 14 years.
Mr Hatton paid tribute to Mr Drax in a speech after his win.
Richard Drax congratulates Lloyd Hatton (Image: Alfie Lumb)
He said: "Thank you to Richard Drax for 14 years of service here in South Dorset.
I recognise it does take dedication and bravery to stand for any public office and it must always be worthy of our respect."
Speaking to the Echo after the results, Lloyd Hatton said: "It's fantastic, it is the privilege of my life to represent my home town constituency.
"There is three things I am looking to work on; bringing the NHS back on its feet, I've had people saying how impossible it is to get a dentist, as well as how GP and NHS waiting lists are too long.
"I want to re-vitalise town centres which have been struggling since the pandemic.
Lloyd Hatton giving a speech after his election win (Image: Alfie Lumb)
"Finally, I want to protect our cherished local environment. I'm so lucky that my constituency is the gem of the Jurassic Coast and we do have a sewage spill scandal on our doorstep, so I will be holding the big water companies to account so we can protect our environment.
"I think we all knew the result was going to be close and we have been listening to people for the last six weeks who told us they have been crying out for change.
"We always knew it would be close but this is a particularly spectacular result."
I just caught up with the new South Dorset Labour MP Lloyd Hatton#DorsetElection #GeneralElection2024 pic.twitter.com/AjdUxGkq2D
— Tom Lawrence (@TLawJourno) July 5, 2024
Speaking after the results, Richard Drax congratulated Lloyd Hatton.
He said: "Congratulations. Thank you to all those for campaigning for me, and the wonderful team working with me over the past 14 years.
"It was a huge privilege to be MP, it is my home too. I loved the job and meeting the scores of people. It's been a team effort and I have adored every moment. I'd like to wish Lloyd well."
It was a tightly fought race with four parties receiving over 8,000 votes, Reform UK finished in third place, just ahead of the Liberal Democrats in fourth.
The votes in full for South Dorset:
Lloyd Hatton, Labour: 15,659
Richard Drax, Conservative: 14,611
Morgan Young, Reform: 8,168
Matt Bell, Liberal Democrats: 8,017
Catherine Bennett, Green: 2,153
Joy Wilson, Independent: 192
Giovanna Lewis, Independent:: 185
Rosie Morrell, Everyone is God: 52
The turnout was 65 per cent
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