LABOUR have held Cardiff South and Penarth with a majority of over 7,000 votes.

Stephen Doughty was announced as MP for the constituency at the Welsh institute of Sport in the early hours of Friday (May 8) morning.

Mr Doughty won a total of 19,966 votes which was 7,453 more than second place Conservative candidate Emma Warman. UKIP were in third position with 6,423 votes and Plaid Cymru managed fourth position with 3,443. The Liberal Democrats got 2,318, the Green party 1,746 and then the Trade Union and Socialist Coalition with 258.

The results were announced at around 3.43am.

Mr Doughty thanked his campaign staff and fellow candidates before saying: "I proud and honoured to be the member of Parliament for such a diverse constituency. I am delighted people have opted for optimism and hope over fear and divisions and I pledge to continue to listen to you (the constituents) and be a voice for Cardiff South and Penarth in Parliament rather than a voice for Parliament in Cardiff South and Penarth."

The count for Cardiff South and Penarth was confirmed earlier on in the evening as being 46,788 and a turnout of 61.56 per cent.

UKIP candidate John Rees Evans believes that his campaign went incredibly well and that he wished he had more time to campaign in the lead up to the election but was positive about the party's future prospects.

Plaid candidate Ben Foday pointed out that his party's struggles are with funding election campaigns but believes their message is getting across to voters.

Nigel Howells of the Liberal Democrats insisted that the campaign had been a positive campaign but that conversations on the doorstep are not necessarily reflected in the results.

Green Party candidate Anthony Slaughter said that having had such a large increase in members and positive results in previous bi-elections, their focus is on doing well at next year's Welsh assembly elections.