I would like to thank everyone who voted for Labour and for me in Ivybridge this week and to the fantastic team of volunteers who supported me. We have shown what unity, organisation and hard work can achieve.

I prefer not to talk in terms of winning and losing elections – politics is not a game, it is about people’s lives and futures.

While I am sad that this result means four more years of un-opposed Tory austerity, which will hit the young, the poor and the vulnerable in Ivybridge hardest, I am delighted with the result overall.

Tony Rea

Erme Road

Ivybridge