VIDEO: Shailesh Vara disappointed at election defeat for '˜very good friend' Stewart Jackson

Mr Vara, who had little difficulty retaining his seat as MP for North West Cambridgeshire, said there will be plenty of time to figure out the reasons behind Mr Jackson’s political demise after he was surprisingly defeated at the General Election.

Conservative Mr Jackson’s 12 year tenure in Parliament was ended by Labour’s Fiona Onasanya who took Peterborough with a majority of just above 600.

Mr Vara said: “I’m very, very disappointed about Stewart’s loss. Stewart is not only a colleague but a very good friend and I’m disappointed for him.

“It’s early days for post-mortems, announcements have just been made, and there will be plenty of time in the days and weeks ahead to analyse.”

Liberal Democrat candidate for Peterborough Beki Sellick told the audience at the East of England Arena and Events Centre: “To local Lib Dem voters, who have chosen to vote for others because they feared their vote wouldn’t count. Well it has counted.”

Green Party candidate Fiona Radic said: “Thank you very much for your votes. I was astonished I got more than one tonight.

“The Green Party is making an impact, but it doesn’t always show in our results.”