CHRIS Green was re-elected as MP for Bolton West, as the crucial marginal seat lived up to its reputation for election night drama.

The Conservative candidate defeated Labour opponent Julie Hilling for the second time in as many years, slightly increasing his majority from 801 to 936 in a night of few other positives for his party.

As exit poll predictions put Labour on course for a strong performance across the country, there were fears among local Tories that all three of Bolton’s seats would be turning red.

Throughout a tense count in the elegant surroundings of the Albert Hall, both major parties harboured genuine hopes of claiming the crucial marginal seat.

Ultimately, it was Mr Green who prevailed once again — this time without the need for a recount.

He said: “I am delighted. It has been an incredible campaign, so closely fought once again in Bolton West – it is the most exciting seat in the country and the most nerve-wracking to participate in as well.

“I had to do a double-take when I saw the results.

“It was a shock, it was a surprise, it was delightful – all these emotions rolled into one.

“And then you move on to think about what we do tomorrow, as well as colleagues up and down the country who may have lost their seats or are newly elected.

“There is a question over what the government is going to look like in the days ahead and we will be thinking hard about that.

“We bucked the trend in the North West two years ago in Bolton West and we are doing so with the national trend this year.

“Now we have to ensure that we have a government that delivers for the British people because there are big issues to deal with, not least Brexit.”

Earlier in the night, a nervous Mr Green spoke of the ‘Corbyn Effect’, saying the Labour leader had once again shocked the nation with his success.

Ms Hilling, who represented Bolton West in Parliament from 2010 to 2015, was disappointed that she did not feel the benefit of her party’s national bounce.

She did claim an impressive 23,523 votes — almost 5,000 more than she did in 2015 — but fell short of Mr Green’s 24,459.

Ms Hilling revealed that she hopes to return to Parliament as an MP again, saying: “I’m really disappointed and disappointed for the constituents of Bolton West as well.

“I think the message they have given to me on the doorstep is that they are sick to death of austerity, sick too of the cuts. They are frightened for the health service, frightened for their children, do not like people sleeping on our streets and don’t like the fact that so many are having to use foodbanks.

“I think we should listen to those 23,000 people who said things have got to change.

“We have done our best this time and live to fight another day.

“I am very disappointed. I will continue to work for the constituency of Bolton West and I hope that someday I will return as their Member of Parliament.”

The result was declared at around 3.20am by Bolton Council chief executive Margaret Asquith, earlier than many had anticipated.

UKIP’s Martin Tighe claimed third place with 1,587 votes, narrowly beating Liberal Democrat Rebecca Forrest with 1,485 ballots.

Mr Green, who has one of the slimmest Tory majorities in the country, added in his acceptance speech: “Its been a hard fought campaign and this is such a fantastic demonstration of democracy Britain should be so proud of.

“The other candidates fought so hard, their campaign teams fought so well.

“I am delighted after having served Bolton West for two years to again serve the constituents, every single constituents in Bolton West for the forthcoming Parliament.”

Ms Forrest said: “It was a very interesting night to be a part of. I hadn’t realised how close it was going to be.

“The general feeling I had was that it was going to stay Tory.

“That it came down to being this close really showed the national surge there seems to have been for Labour

“At this election there has been a lot of negative voting as opposed to positive. They aren’t voting for something, they are voting against it and rejecting the Tories in a way that Theresa May never thought was going happen.”