Will Forster is Woking’s new MP after securing an 11,000 majority over the previous MP, Jonathan Lord, in Thursday’s general election.

Liberal Democrat Mr Forster polled 24,019 votes to the Conservative Mr Lord’s 12,773, the first time since the constituency was formed in 1950 that a Conservative MP has failed to win the seat.

Reform UK, represented by Richard Barker, secured 4,888 votes, narrowly relegating Labour candidate Ese Erheriene to fourth with 4,444.

Nataly Anderson (Green Party) took 1,853 votes with Tim Read (Heritage Party) on 168 votes.

The turnout was 66.4%, with 171 ballot papers rejected.

Mr Forster secured 49.9% of the vote, an increase of 18.8% on 2019, whereas Mr Lord’s share of the vote declined by 21.8% to a little over a quarter of the vote at 26.5%.

“Thank you so much to everybody across Woking for choosing me to be your voice in Westminster,” Mr Forster said.

“Being the MP for my home town is the honour of a lifetime. I promise to repay the trust you’ve placed in me and I will keep working hard for everyone in the town.”