We'll cope with hung parliament says MP

First elected to the House in 1983, 66-year-old Sir Edward said he was ‘delighted and pleased’ with the result in his constituency.

“I feel relieved,” he said.

“It is always humbling: people say this is a safe seat, but no seat is safe and many Conservatives with safe seats have tumbled in the past - you have to keep working at it.”

Speaking straight after the count on Friday morning, Sir Edward agreed the national picture looked uncertain.

He said: “I think it looks like it’s very dicey and very mixed.

“If we are in a hung parliament then we just have to cope with it don’t we.”

However, there was one issue that Sir Edward feels there is no wavering on - Brexit.

“I think 60 percent of this constituency are ready for Brexit and the priority for me is to deliver that,” said Sir Edward.

“There is no turning back and no prevarication on that.”

Closer to home, Sir Edward is a keen supporter of rural Lincolnshire and ‘committed’ to the area.

He said: “I live near Market Rasen; we go to church in Market Rasen.

“My wife is always there shopping; I am also shopping, perhaps not as much as my wife.

“We are totally committed to making a success of the area.

“Of course Market Rasen is the centre of the rural constituency.

“And, let’s face it, it is the centre of our support - we’ve got to be honest about that.

“We do very well in the villages and people are very Conservative-minded.

“But they also, I hope, recognise that we work hard for them; not just me but our county councillors, people like Lewis Strange and Tony Turner - part of the community who really work very hard.”

Sir Edward increased his majority from 25,949 in 2015 to 31,790 in this election - a rise of 9.1 percent.