LUDLOW threw up a major surprise in the General Election.

Philip Dunne was comfortably returned as MP for the fourth time to provide some solace on a very disappointing poll for the Conservatives.

But the major shock was that Labour came second in a seat where they usually come nowhere.

Julia Buckley increase the Labour vote by 12 per cent to come second – albeit almost 20,000 votes behind Philip Dunne.

The Liberal Democrats, who retained all their Ludlow seats on Shropshire Council in the local elections in May, were humiliated for the second time in two years in a General Election.

Heather Kidd, a member of Shropshire Council who was second behind Philip Dunne in 2010, was relegated to third with less than half the Labour vote.

In 2015 the Liberal Democrat candidate was third behind UKIP in a seat that the party had held between 2001 and 2005.

It was the absence of UKIP, who came second with more than 7,100 votes in 2015, that made a big difference to the result this year.

The turnout in Ludlow was more than 70 per cent and Philip Dunne achieved a record vote for the Conservatives.

He has not commented on the national result which must have taken something of the gloss from his personal success.

Last year, Philip Dunne was appointed by Theresa May as a Health Minister having served under David Cameron as Minister for Defence Procurement.

Andy Boddington, the Liberal Democrat member of Shropshire Council, who was re-elected at the local elections in May did not deny that the General Election was a blow for his own party.

“The real action in this campaign was for second place,” said Andy Boddington.

“Labour had high hopes for Julia Buckley. She was a good performer in the hustings and came in second, with a respectable 12,147 votes.

“Heather Kidd, representing the Liberal Democrats, came third with 5,336 votes. Green candidate Hilary Wendt was fourth with 1,054 votes.

“The result in Ludlow will be cheering for Labour. It is a blow for the Liberal Democrats who had not expected to win but had hoped to return to second position after the punishing election of 2015.

“That election saw the Lib Dem vote collapse to just 13 per cent, having averaged 37 per cent over the previous four elections.

“Labour has averaged 14 per cent over the last five elections. Now they are on 24 per cent, a level they haven’t reached since 2005. Today’s result will considerably strengthen and cheer the local Labour team.”

Andy Boddington did not offer any explanation for why his party has declined as a force in general elections in Ludlow.

Matthew Green, won Ludlow in 2001 for the Liberal Democrats, following the deselection of long-standing Conservative MP Christopher Gill because of his anti-EU views.

Philip Dunne regained the seat for the Conservatives in 2005 and has held it comfortably for the Conservatives in three successive General Elections since then.