Conservatives win Carlisle seat

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Labour's Michael Boaden lost to the Conservatives in Carlisle

The Conservatives have won Carlisle, a seat which had been held by Labour since 1964.

But they suffered heavy losses in Westmorland and Lonsdale, where there was an 11% swing to the Liberal Democrats at their expense.

Labour retained Barrow and Furness, where former defence secretary John Hutton had stood down, as well as Copeland and Workington.

There was little change for Penrith and the Border, which remains Conservative.

In Carlisle John Stevenson gained 16,589 votes, compared to the 15,736 gained by his Labour rival.

He told the BBC his party's achievements had been "remarkable", and said he was not concerned about the prospect of a hung parliament.

"At the end of the day we live in a democracy and it's the people who decide, and if they return a hung parliament that becomes unstable then quite clearly there would be another election.

"But quite possibly a minority government can quite comfortably survive if it can command a majority on certain issues within Parliament."

John Woodcock, the new Labour MP for Barrow and Furness , said voters had expressed some dissatisfaction with his party, but "had not shown they want to change in any meaningful way towards the Conservatives".