The town where Tories have lost for first time since 1885
The general election delivered a major upset to the Conservatives whose seats in the Commons dropped to 120.
Among the biggest surprises on general election night was the loss of one of the Conservative constituencies considered to be one of the safest.
First created in 1885, the seat of Wokingham has consistently returned a Conservative MP into Parliament despite the boundary changes it experienced over the years.
But in a historic first, voters turned their backs on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and his party and voted in Liberal Democrat candidate Clive Jones as their new representative in the Commons.
Mr Jones, a former local councilman, beat Tory Lucy Demery with 25,743 votes to her 17,398 with a turnout of 72.2 percent.
Reform UK's Colin Wright came in third with 5,274 ahead of Labour candidate Monica Hamidi and the Greens' Merv Boniface.
Wokingham's previous MP was Brexiteer John Redwood, who was first elected in 1987 but confirmed he would not be running for re-election this time around.
Mr Jones is one of 71 Liberal Democrats set to take a seat in the Commons after what leader Sir Ed Davey called a "record-breaking night."
The former councilman had been building momentum for his campaign since March 2022 as the Lib Dems built up their support in the Berkshire seat first in the borough council and then in the local elections.
In his victory speech, Mr Jones said: "The country and the people of Wokingham have voted for change.
DON'T MISS:
Pension triple lock warning over one thing you need to know about Labour [PERSONAL FINANCE]
Could 'crisis-hit' Wales be a blueprint for Sir Keir Starmer's UK? [ANALYSIS]
'I'm a Red Wall Tory councillor and this is where it all went wrong' [EXCLUSIVE]
“The people of Wokingham have been wonderfully supportive, they knew we needed real change so they voted for me to be the first ever Liberal Democrat MP for Wokingham.
"I promise to work tirelessly on their behalf. This is their victory and thank you very, very much.
“I will represent you in parliament with honesty, diligence and care. I will champion the NHS, lobby to stop water companies from polluting our waterways and press the government to reduce the effects of the cost of living crisis. I will be relentless on your behalf."
Exit polls had predicted the Lib Dems would secure 61 seats but expectations were quickly surpassed as the party snatched 71 by 8am on Friday.
Sir Ed hailed the "exceptional result" and pledged it would not be "a one-off" as the Lib Dems snatched constituencies from two former Conservative Prime Ministers - Maidenhead from Theresa May and Witney from David Cameron.
