LABOUR held onto control of Torfaen and increased their majority by more than 5,000 votes.

Nick Thomas-Symonds was re-elected as MP for the area with 22,134 votes, a majority of 10,240.

South Wales Argus:

. @NickTorfaenMP is "absolutely delighted" to have been reelected with an increased share of the vote #GE2017 pic.twitter.com/WyXuZI9Q4t

— Estel Farell-Roig (@ArgusFarellRoig) June 9, 2017

Conservative candidate Graham Smith came in second place with 11,894 votes, followed by Jeff Rees of Plaid Cymru with 2,059 votes.

Mr Thomas-Symonds MP, who increased his majority by 5,203 votes compared to the general election in 2015, when he received 16,931 votes, said: “I am absolutely delighted to have won the Torfaen constituency again this evening, with an increased share of the vote and an increased majority.

“I have worked exceptionally hard over the past two years.

"The people of Torfaen are my first priority and always will be.”

Mr Thomas-Symonds MP said he was pleased the Labour message had got through the doorstep in the last few weeks.

“I will now be redoubling my efforts to work as hard as I can to represent the people of this great constituency,” he said.

He was first elected as MP in 2015 after former Welsh Secretary Paul Murphy stepped down, having served as MP for the area for 28 years.

Giving his victory speech, Mr Thomas-Symonds, who is a barrister and has written biographies of Labour heroes Aneurin Bevan and Clement Attlee, said: "It is the privilege of my life to serve my home constituency.

"This is a great parliamentary constituency and there will be many political challenges in the years ahead - but I will take the same approach that I have taken over the last two years and work as hard as I can for the people that I represent."

Graham Smith, for the Conservatives, said it was “unsurprising” that Labour had held the seat – but that he had achieved a “strong” second place performance.

“This is the best ever Conservative vote share in Torfaen, so I am pretty satisfied that the hard work we have put into the campaign has paid off,” he said. “I think around 3,000 more people voted Conservatives, compared to 2015.”

A total of 38,494 people cast their votes in Torfaen on Thursday, meaning the turn-out increased slightly from 61.4 per cent in the last General Election to 62.2 per cent.

When it came to postal votes, 78.9 per cent were returned, a total of 10,018.

Ian Williams, of UKIP, came in fourth place after receiving 1,490 votes, followed by Liberal Democrat candidate Andrew Best who received 852 votes.

Acting returning officer Alison Ward announced the results at 1.50am on Friday morning at the Pontypool Active Living Centre.