MONMOUTH MP David Davies is celebrating a convincing election victory, having more than doubled his majority.

With 22,466 votes and 48.3 per cent of the total votes cast, the incumbent Conservative MP won the seat for the second time, increasing his 2005 majority of 4,527 to 10,425 beating his closest rival, Labour's Hamish Sandison, who polled 12,041 votes.

Speaking from his office in Usk, a delighted Mr Davies said: "I'm very, very pleased to have received a new mandate from the people of Monmouth to continue to represent them in Westminster.

"As promised, I was back to work first thing on Monday morning. I was unable to pursue constituency casework during the period Parliament was dissolved, so there is a bit of a backlog to get through at the moment.

"I will also be holding my first advice surgery following my re-election on Friday afternoon in Usk.

"Anyone wishing to make an appointment can do so by telephoning my office on 01291 672817.

"Obviously, this is an exciting time for national politics with the possibility of some sort of coalition government, but I'm very much aware that there are a lot of people in Monmouthshire who have got real problems and I am keen to start addressing important local issues, such as ambulance response times, as soon as possible.

"I believe it is in everyone's best interests to ensure we have a stable government in place to deal with the current financial crisis and I would be happy to work with the Liberal Democrats.

"I would like to thank my constituency team for their hard work over the past five years and to all of the volunteers at the Monmouth Conservative Association who supported my campaign."

Elsewhere, Labour reclaimed the Blaenau Gwent gaining a majority of 10,516 over People's Voice candidate, Dai Davies, who claimed the former Labour stronghold in 2005.

With a turnout of just 61 per cent, the win represented a swing of 29.2 per cent from People's Voice to Labour.

In Powys Liberal Democrat MP Roger Williams claimed a 46.2 per cent share of the votes beating Conservative candidate Suzy Davies into second place with a majority of 3,747, while in Torfaen Labour's Paul Murphy survived an 8.2 per cent swing from Labour to Conservative to beat Tory opponent Jonathan Burns into second place with a majority of 9,306.

FULL MONMOUTH RESULTS

David Davies (Conservative) - 22,466

Hamish Sandison (Labour) -12,041

Martin Blakebrough (Liberal Democrat) - 9,026

Jonathan Clark (Plaid Cymru) -1,273

Derek Rowe (UKIP) -1,126

Steve Millson (Green) - 587