Commenting on the result of Thursday's General Election, Harlow's Liberal Democrat candidate Lorna Spenceley said:

"The Liberal Democrats now have more MPs than at any time in the party's history. We fought a positive campaign, and benefited from our clear and consistent stance on issues ranging from the war in Iraq to ID cards and tuition fees.

Labour was severely punished at the polls by voters who feel they can no longer trust Tony Blair - and Labour MP Bill Rammell now has a wafer-thin majority of just 97 votes. Across the country, the Tories failed to attract people with a message that was unremittingly negative.

I'm very pleased that in Harlow, despite repeated and misleading claims from Labour that a vote for the Liberal Democrats risked letting in Michael Howard as prime minister, more than 5,000 electors cast a positive vote for the Liberal Democrats. We will continue to campaign on the issues that matter to local people, including the state of the NHS, tuition fees and top-up fees, security and dignity in retirement, and the need for more bobbies on the beat."