Caroline keeps Brighton Green

Caroline Lucas has held her seat in Brighton Pavilion to keep the Green Party in Parliament with 42% of the local vote.

Lucas, who became the first ever Green MP in 2010, won with 22,871 votes, a swing of 10.1%.

She remains the Green Party’s sole Member of Parliament after an otherwise dismal night for left-wing English parties.

A turnout of 71.67% saw Lucas beat Labour’s Purna Sen who only received 14,904 votes

She capitalised on the student vote to gain an 8,000 vote increase over her 2010 majority.

Caroline Lucas (Green) – 22,871

Purna Sen (Labour) – 14,904

Clarence Mitchell (Conservative) – 12,448

Nigel Carter (UKIP) – 2,724

Chris Bowers (Liberal Democrats) – 1,525

Nick Yeomans (Independent) – 116

Howard Pillot (Socialist Party of GB) –  88

Following her win, Lucas said: “Tonight’s victory is your victory.

“I’d like to thank my family – Richard, you are my rock. Isaac, Theo, thank you so much for all of your support and all of your love.

“We’ve shown we can win elections and serve the people. Thank you for putting your faith in me again.

“This is an incredibly special place. It is creative, compassionate and brave and I’m proud to call it my home.”

However, Green Party Leader Natalie Bennett failed to win in her constituency of Holborn and St Pancras.

Asked whether she would step down from leadership, Ms Bennett replied: “I’ll be serving out my full two years’ term.”

Although the party received over a million votes across the country, they only have one seat to show for it. Caroline felt that this was a symptom of the broken electoral system in this country.

She added: “It’s ever clearer tonight that the time for electoral reform is long overdue, and it’s only proportional representation that will deliver a Parliament that is truly legitimate and better reflects the people it is meant to represent.”