David Taylor reacts to being Hemel's new MP after winning the seat for Labour for first time in 19 years

In the run-up to polling day, David had campaigned for a Hemel that would be the best possible place to live and work, to bring up a family in and to grow old in.

And on Thursday (July 4) he was backed by 16,844 residents, winning him the Hemel Hempstead seat in Parliament.

For the past 19 years, the constituency had been held by Conservative MP Mike Penning – who, in 2019, won with a majority of 14,563.

And, in the face of such a majority, David says the Labour team campaigned until the polls closed on Thursday – with some voters even agreeing to rush out to vote at 9.50pm, just 10 minutes before the end of polling.

“I think we were cautiously optimistic, but we took nothing for granted,” he said. “It was a huge majority to overturn.

“We were under no illusions as to the challenge. But as time went on we got a more and more positive reaction from the people we spoke to. We worked really hard.

“We had a sense that the mood had changed – compared to how things had been in the past. But you never know.”

Now David says it feels pretty amazing to be representing the place his family is from – although he admits that it doesn’t yet “feel real”.

David believes residents backed him because they recognised that it was “time for a change after 14 years of chaos”.

He says that during the campaign residents raised concerns about the state of the roads, special education, the NHS and social care and increases in the cost of living.

And he says that now he will work hard to deliver for the voters who have given him their trust.

“People have given us their trust – but it’s conditional,” he said. “I am very aware of that.

“People have lent me their vote, but we have got to prove to them we will work hard to deliver for them. It’s not going to be easy.”

Looking forward, David says he is confident that the pledges made by the Labour Party nationally can be delivered.

Locally he says he will work hard to deliver the best healthcare for Hemel Hempstead – whether that’s on the existing hospital site or the on the Market Place.

And aside from that he says he is keen to see what can be done to rejuvenate the town centre.

Second placed in the election was Conservative candidate Cllr Andrew Williams, who received 11,987 votes – which was 4,857 fewer than David Taylor.

Cllr Williams – who is a member of Dacorum Council and Hertfordshire County Council – was selected just days before nominations closed, after Conservative Jaymey McIvor withdrew his nomination. .

Meanwhile Reform UK candidate Noel Willcox was placed third in the election for the Hemel Hempstead seat, with 7,689 votes – with Liberal Democrat Sammy-Barry Mears receiving 5096 votes.