REFORM UK candidate Terence Longstaff snatched third place on election night after winning 6,664 votes, pushing the Liberal Democrats’ Martin Goss into fourth.

In a short speech after the result was announced, Mr Longstaff said it had been an “interesting” six weeks on the campaign trail and congratulated winner Pam Cox.

The Liberal Democrats’ return of 6,393 means they received their lowest number of votes in the Colchester constituency since 1966.

Mr Longstaff used his speech to call for a change in voting system and added his campaign had very little money to spend throughout the election.

He said: “We have put this campaign together on a shoestring budget whilst I’ve had a full-time job at the same time.

“My support team has been the boots on the ground.”

In a separate interview with the Gazette on election night, Mr Longstaff addressed the controversy surrounding Reform UK after the party dropped three candidates and another two defected during the campaign.

He said: “From the outset, from deciding to run for Reform, I have been to areas where far-right people come up to me, think they’re my mate and that I am going to do what they want.

“That is not and that is not the party – it’s not what we stand for and it is not what we want.”