Conservatives’ Robert Courts wins Witney by-election

Liberal Democrats succeed in knocking Labour Party into third place

The Conservatives' Robert Courts beat off 13 rivals to claim victory in a by-election in Witney (PA)

The Conservatives have kept hold of David Cameron’s constituency seat in a by-election to replace the outgoing former prime minister.

The party’s Robert Courts, a barrister and local councillor, saw off 13 other candidates to win with 45 per cent of the vote.

Although Mr Courts secured a strong majority, the results are something of a departure from Mr Cameron’s success at the 2015 general election in which he was returned to his seat with 60 per cent of the vote.

The Liberal Democrats succeeded in knocking Labour into third place, representing a considerable improvement from their fourth place in 2015.

The Green Party candidate, US politician Bernie Sanders’ brother Larry received 3.5 per cent of the vote

Turnout in the Oxfordshire constituency was just 47 per cent, down 26 per cent from the general election turnout last year.

Mr Cameron quit the Oxfordshire seat last month, saying he did not want to become a “distraction” to Theresa May’s new government.

He was seen in the constituency canvassing support for Mr Courts.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn was also in the constituency to back his party’s candidate, Duncan Enright, who lost out to Mr Cameron by more than 25,000 votes in 2015.

Additional reporting by PA