THE Conservatives have held on to the Dorset North seat.

Simon Hoare retained his seat after receiving 35,705 votes.

On Twitter, he said: "Thrilled and honoured to be re-elected as the Member of Parliament for beautiful North Dorset. I look forward to continuing to serve all of my constituents. Thank you for your support."

David Chadwick (Lib Dems) had 11,404 votes while Pat Osborne received 6,737 votes and Ken Huggins got 2,261.

The number of votes cast for North Dorset, including spoilt ballots) were 56,370. The voting turnout was 73.44 per cent.