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00:00So I said, come to me now, all of us, ready to go, you know?
00:20So I said, come to me now, all of us, ready to go, you know?
00:30So I said, come to me now, all of us, ready to go, you know?
00:40So I said, come to me now, all of us, ready to go, you know?
00:50So I said, come to me now, all of us, ready to go, you know?
01:00So I said, come to me now, all of us, ready to go, you know?
01:10So I said, come to me now, all of us, ready to go, you know?
01:20So I said, come to me now, all of us, ready to go, you know?
01:30So I said, come to me now, all of us, ready to go, you know?
01:40So I said, come to me now, all of us, ready to go, you know?
01:50So I said, come to me now, all of us, ready to go, you know?
02:01Mathers, Claire Lees, commonly known as Claire Mathers, the Green Party, 2,496.
02:15Stafford, Gregory James, commonly known as Greg Stafford, the Conservative Party, 18,951.
02:31Yusuf, Nabil Ali, Liberal Democrats, 17,602.
02:45The number of ballot papers rejected was as follows.
02:4821 for voting for more than one candidate,
02:518 for writing the mark by which a voter would be identified,
02:56168 for being unmarked or wholly void for uncertainty,
03:01which makes the total of 197 ballot papers rejected.
03:07There were 53,212 ballot papers surpassed from an electorate of 75,920,
03:17giving a turnout of 70.1%.
03:22And I do hereby declare that Greg Stafford is duly elected.
03:36Well, ladies and gentlemen, what a day, a long day we've had.
03:40Firstly, just a few thank yous to you, Mr. Attorney Officer,
03:43and to your staff who've done such a sterling job, both at the polling stations and here at the count.
03:49It's been a very long evening.
03:51And also to the police who've kept us safe.
03:53And, of course, to my fellow candidates, thank you for making this such an interesting and, indeed, fun contest.
04:00I also want to thank my amazing team.
04:03If I single anybody out, then I'm bound to get in trouble for not mentioning everyone.
04:08But I do have to mention Debbie Cohen-Ford, who's my agent, for her absolutely amazing work.
04:13Thank you, Debbie, we really appreciate it.
04:15And if I'm allowed one little indulgence, I will single out somebody else as well.
04:19Judith Story, who has really kept me on the straight and narrow in this campaign.
04:25Thank you, Judith, for that.
04:27I also want to thank the two outgoing MPs for the cover of this seat,
04:32David Hines and Jeremy Hunt, and I'm absolutely thrilled that both of those were elected.
04:37Also, on a personal note, I want to thank my brother,
04:40who unfortunately lost his seat in South Wiltshire by only 1,000 votes.
04:44I know that he will be back if he wishes to be.
04:47And to my wife, Caroline, who has been my rock and has supported me in this journey and in so many.
04:54And she's a wonderful mother to our children. She's Adam and Lucy.
04:57And finally, I want to thank the residents of this new seat at Farnham and Bourne.
05:02I know that those of you who voted for me put your trust in me, and I want to repay that trust by working hard.
05:09And those of you who didn't vote for me, I've now got four or five years to gain your trust.
05:15And I promise you, whether you voted for me or not, I'll be working for you every single year.
05:20When I was first selected for this seat nine, ten months ago, this safe Conservative seat, I was told, nine or ten months ago,
05:29my team and I did not treat it as the safe Conservative seat.
05:35We went out knocking on doors, talking to residents, going to local community events, speaking to everyone,
05:42because the residents of this new seat at Farnham and Bourne deserve a Member of Parliament who takes them seriously and listens to their concerns.
05:50And my campaign has been very clear. We need new NHS doctors and dentists in this constituency.
05:57We need to get our police back on the street here, and we need to improve the infrastructure across this constituency.
06:04And I've unashamedly campaigned on a national level about the NHS and social care.
06:11And I've said it at hustings, but I'll say it again now.
06:13We need to have an honest and grown-up conversation with the public about how we deliver, provide and fund the NHS and social care.
06:23And so that's going to be one of my key priorities when I get into Parliament.
06:27Finally, I just want to say a few words on the national picture.
06:31Obviously, Labour has a stalking majority and they have a mandate to do what they wish.
06:37However, so did we last time, and the public can turn very quickly if you don't deliver on your promises.
06:46I think the Conservative Party needs to rebuild. It needs to regain its competence, its integrity and its core values.
06:57A party that stands up for freedom, for free trade, for rule of law, for individual liberty and for strong economics.
07:06But that is for another day. I will go from here, out to the people of Farnham Gordon, working for them tirelessly until they decide they know no more.
07:19Thank you very much.