TORY Jackie Doyle Price has held onto her seat as Thurrock MP following a topsy-turvy night which saw a recount.

Ms Doyle Price beat her nearest challenger Labour’s Polly Billington by just 536 votes, with 33.7 percent of the vote.

She scored 16,692 votes, with Ms Billington on 16,156. Incredibly Ukip, who many tipped to win this seat, were only just behind on 15,718 votes.

The night was full of drama, with early predictions saying Mr Aker was going to be victorious. It was then Labour’s turn to sense victory at around 2am. But after a bundle recount was called, the Tories had the look of winners.

Speaking after her victory, Ms Doyle-Price said: ““This increased my majority fivefold, so that’s quite nice!”

She added: “I’ll carry on doing the same as I’ve always done and try my best to be an effective champion for Thurrock and we’ll see where that leads.”

There was an overall turnout of 64.07 percent in Thurrock.