Gordon Henderson has been returned to parliament, after a stunning win in the Sittingbourne and Sheppey constituency.

The Tory polled 24,425 - almost double that of second placed Richard Palmer of Ukip on 12,257.

Labour's Guy Nicholson was third on 9,673 while Lib Dem Keith Nevols came fourth on 1,563.

The Green Party's Gary Miller was fifth on 1,185 while Loony Mad Mike Young came last with 275.

It was a long evening at the count, which was held at the Swallows leisure centre, Sittingbourne.

An initial declaration time of 3am proved to be optimistic as the counters struggled with the volume of votes from this election and the borough council election.

The result was finally revealed at 7.30am with Mr Henderson, who won the seat in 2010 after a near miss in 2005, saying he was delighted to return to parliament with an almost identical tally to last time.

He said: "I would like to thank the other candidates it was a good, clean, fair election - none of the dirty tricks we sometimes see in other elections."

It was expected that the 67-year-old would lose ground to Ukip and Labour, but in the end it was a comfortable win.

Mr Palmer's second place represents an increase of 9,647 from the party's last showing in 2010 when candidate Ian Davison came fourth with 2,610.

He said: "I thought we would come second.

"I feel quite excited actually because I think we've overtaken Labour. If you look at the result in 2010, we've shot up into second place, and I think it's all to work for however long the parliament works - whether it is six months or five years.

"We're going to be taking on the Conservatives, we are the only option, if you look at Sittingbourne and Sheppey, if you vote Labour, you end up getting Tories.

"If you vote Ukip, you have a chance of getting it all sorted out in Sittingbourne and Sheppey - getting rid of the Tories.

"I think you'll find in 2017 that the promise about a cast iron guarantee for a referendum on the EU membership won't take place, and I think that will anger people more.

"So I think when 2020 comes I think it's all for Ukip's taking.

"I think we will get some council seats - between six and 10, I think when you're working in the council people start to see a change in their community and that will add to the boost for people voting Ukip in the next general election."

Labour, which was second last time, saw its vote decline by 2,257.

Mr Nicholson said: "I'm really upset that we didn't win and get a Labour voice back in Westminster through the election, which would have been fantastic.

"There is real need across our community and there is also great opportunity."

On being pushed into third place: "There was a great campaign running on the ground around Ukip - very apparent when we've been out there talking to residents, talking to voters.

"I think where the surprise really was was not so much around Ukip, but about the faith that has been put in the Conservatives going forward.

"There are some serious questions about what a Conservative government is going to do, and the impact it will have on the people of Sittingbourne and Sheppey - I fear maybe quite significant."

On where he will go next: "I really haven't thought about that at all because my entire focus has been on giving my all, giving my best to the campaign to represent the people of Sittingbourne and Sheppey.

"Perhaps over the next weeks or months I might think about what might happen in the future."

The turnout was 65.2% from an electorate of 76,018.