Scottish Conservative Andrew Bowie has held on to his West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine seat with a convincing win over his SNP rival.
Mr Bowie, an energy minister in Rishi Sunak’s last government, won 17,428 votes.
The SNP’s Glen Reynolds got 13,987 votes.
The result was declared shortly after outgoing Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross lost his bid for election to Westminster, on a night when Conservatives were given a bruising all over the UK.
Winning the contest, he said: “This has been a rough night for Conservatives up and down the United Kingdom.
“Obviously for those of us proud of our party, proud of our record, a difficult night.
“We are going to have to take a long hard look at why we received the votes we have across the country and why we have suffered some of the results we have.”
Andrew Bowie improves his position
Mr Bowie had survived a nervous election night in 2019 when retained his seat by only 834 votes, having first gained the seat from the nationalists in 2017.
And the tussle was expected to be just as tight this year.
The future of oil and gas proved a key issue in West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine, with both the Conservatives and the SNP keen to portray the other as a risk to the industry.
“It was the number one priority on the door step,” Mr Bowie told The P&J.
“It’s really important that Labour with their majority, listen to the concerns of the north-east and realise they cannot simply turn off the taps in the North Sea without repercussions like loss of jobs here.”
Mr Bowie was joined by former prime minister Theresa May in the final week of his campaign.
The 37-year-old had served as her parliamentary private secretary during Mrs May’s time at 10 Downing Street.
Standing down as an MP herself, she joined Mr Bowie door knocking in Banchory last weekend.
SNP candidate: ‘It’s difficult to know what we could have done differently’
The SNP candidate Glen Reynolds stood by his campaign in West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine, despite a widening gap between his party and the Tories at the ballot box.
Banff and District Councillor Reynolds said: “At the end of the day, irrespective of circumstances nationally in terms of the United Kingdom, there are obviously people in West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine very much rooted in the Conservative party.
“I respect that, though I might disagree with people’s views.
“But it’s difficult to know, in terms of our campaign, what we could have changed or done better to be perfectly honest.
“Like all the parties, as Andrew Bowie said in his speech, there’s a lot of reflection needed on the way forward and the changing situation we’re in.”
Far more relaxed Bowie, five years on
Laidback and juggling an orange as he spoke to The P&J, Mr Bowie said he was “overjoyed and humbled” to have increased his majority and bucked the national decline of the Conservatives.
“It wasn’t what I expected. We thought it was going to be close,” he admitted.
“And it was and we needed to fight hard for every vote.
“Hopefully we have got this increased majority as a result of my record as MP for West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine for the last seven years, and the combination of trying to see off the SNP.
“We told people – and it was true – that it was a choice between us and the SNP.
“And that message obviously cut through.”
West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine was the red-eye, final declaration of election night at 6am at P&J Live.
Addressing his cheering supporters, the newly returned Tory MP quipped: “Everybody in this room has been here far too long, so to steal and plagiarise and misquote a phrase from a rather more successful Conservative: ‘Thank you very much and let’s go and get breakfast done’.”
The 2024 general election results in West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine are:
Andrew Bowie (Con) 17,428
Kate Blake (Labour) 6,397
Brandon Innes (Reform) 3,497
Iris Leask (Independent) 219
William Linegar (Green) 1,032
David Neill (Independent) 56
Glen Reynolds (SNP) 13,987
Michael Turvey (Lib) 6,342
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