ELECTION night in Gravesham was a smooth, straightforward affair in comparison with other constituencies in the News Shopper area.

While there was controversy at election counts elsewhere, with some results not announced until the working day was beginning on Friday, everything was done and dusted at Woodville Halls by 3pm.

The first ballot box arrived six minutes after the polling stations closed and the 81 people working at the count had completed the job by 2.40am.

Half the people involved in the election process were Gravesham Council staff, and leader Councillor Mike Snelling praised everyone involved.

He said: “While elsewhere there were many reported problems with the election, the professionalism and precision of the staff here meant the whole election process ran smoothly.”

The lack of controversy in the count was matched by the lack of drama as the result approached, with it clear early on that Adam Holloway was going to retain his seat.

Votes for the Conservative stacked up by the thousand on the central counting table throughout the night, leaving no doubt he was going to win.

Mr Holloway polled almost half the 47,412 total votes, leaving second placed Labour’s Kathryn Smith trailing by more than 9,000 votes.

He got 3,217 more votes than when he was first elected in 2005, while Ms Smith received 5,441 votes less than her party achieved in the borough in 2005.

Afterwards, Mr Holloway said he was “stunned by the size of the majority”, while Ms Smith was bitterly disappointed, saying “it has been a very strange election this time”.

But there was nothing strange about the election result in Gravesham when looked at in the wider context of the country - the Tories got more votes and Labour got less.

Total Votes: 47,412.

Adam Holloway, Conservative: 22,956.

Kathryn Smith, Labour: 13,644.

Anna Arrowsmith, Liberal Democrats: 6,293.

Geoffrey Clark, UKIP: 2,265.

Steve Uncles, English Democrats: 1,005.

Richard Crawford, Green Party: 675 votes.

Alice Sakura Dartnell, Independent: 465 votes