ANNETTE Brooke proved she is no "one-term wonder" by turning one of the most marginal seats in the country into practically a safe seat for the Lib Dems.

There was no indication that only four years ago Mrs Brooke had pulled off the tightest of wins to wrestle the Mid Dorset and North Poole seat from the Conservatives by a slender 384 votes, because this time her majority was a massive 5,482.

It seemed unbelievable, but Mrs Brooke confessed that earlier in the evening she had been at home feeling distinctly worried about how the election count would turn out.

She arrived at the count in the Lighthouse arts centre in Poole halfway through the night and by the time the result was declared at 2.30am had emphatically seen off her main opponent Conservative Simon Hayes.

So it was only fair that Mrs Brooke should make reference to a Daily Echo report earlier this week which had commented: "The Conservatives hope she (Mrs Brooke) will be a one-term wonder."

Taking the platform to acknowledge her victory, Mrs Brooke said: "I'm really pleased that I'm not just a one-term wonder."

She thanked her team and family, particularly husband Mike, for support during her re-election campaign and said she was pleased to hear reports that many young people had taken part in the election voting.

Having polled exactly 22,000 votes, with the turnout up from 65.74 per cent to 68.57 per cent, Mrs Brooke said: "I think people like my approach. I do like working with my constituents and solving their problems. And it is a privilege to be a member of Parliament.

"It has been a wonderful campaign. People really relate to our policies and a lot of people said to us that they did not like Michael Howard and that made them uncertain about how they were going to vote."

She added: "I'm honoured that people have put their trust in me. I have an ambition to make this a safe seat for the Lib Dems and this is a step towards that."

Conservative Mr Hayes, who polled 16,518 - some 1,456 lower than 2001 - said the result was disappointing.

He added: "I think we got our message across and I want to thank my campaign team. It seems to have been a better night for the Conservatives nationally."

Labour Party candidate Philip Murray polled 5,221, down 544 from 2001, while the UK Independence Party's Avril King more than doubled her party's vote from 621 to 1,420.

There were 45,173 ballot papers issued and 60 were returned spoilt.

North Poole & Mid Dorset

Annette Brooke (Lib-Dem) 22,000

Simon Hayes (Con) 16,518

Philip Murray (Labour) 5,221

Avril King (UKIP) 1,420

Majority 5,482 - Hold