Tide of change sweeps against Blizzard
THE Waveney constituency has lived up to the hype it has been given during the election campaign, with Conservative Peter Aldous winning the seat from Labour's Bob Blizzard.
THE Waveney constituency has lived up to the hype it has been given during the election campaign, with Conservative Peter Aldous winning the seat from Labour's Bob Blizzard.
Mr Aldous polled a majority of 769 over Mr Blizzard, who had been MP for 13 years.
With 20,571 votes to Labour's 19,802, Mr Aldous said his victory 'hasn't quite sunk in.'
He said: 'It has been a long night, and a long day before it, with a lot of emotions running high. It is a big honour to be elected, and I'm very conscious of the duty before me.'
He said that after a quiet weekend, his first priority will be to secure more jobs for Waveney.
'We need more private sector jobs here to help fuel us out of recession. We need to create an environment where small businesses can flourish and we need to create that here in Waveney,' he added.
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Mr Blizzard, who first became MP in 1997 after being leader of Waveney District Council, said: 'I'm obviously disappointed, but I always knew it was a tough task.
'It's always difficult when you're trying for a fourth term and obviously doing so when the country has just been through recession is doubly difficult.'
The constituency saw a turnout of 65.22pc - up from 63.6pc last time round. The count received a lot of national media attention, with Sky News broadcasting live from Lowestoft.
Results:
Peter Aldous (Con) 20,571
Bob Blizzard (Lab) 19,802
Alan Dean (Lib Dem) 6,811
Jack Tyler (UKIP) 2,684
Graham Elliott (Greens) 1,167
Louis Barfe (Ind) 106
