General election 2019: Tories take three Labour seats in Nottinghamshire

The Conservatives have caused a series of upsets in Nottinghamshire by taking three seats from the Labour Party.

The Tories won Bassetlaw, which Labour had held since 1935, Vernon Coaker's seat in Gedling, and Ashfield.

Alongside Labour losses, prominent former independent MPs Chris Leslie and Anna Soubry also lost their seats.

Labour's Nadia Whittome, who took Nottingham East from Mr Leslie, is thought to be the youngest serving MP in this Parliament.

The first seat to fall to the Tories was Gedling, which had been held by Labour stalwart Mr Coaker since 1997.

In his concession speech, in front of Conservative winner Tom Randall, Mr Coaker said: "It is no disgrace for me to stand here and know that I've lost standing up for what I believed in.

"We knew some of what we were saying in this election could have cost us votes."

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Labour also lost Bassetlaw, which it has held since 1935.

By Hugh Casswell, BBC Nottingham political reporter

I've asked Labour activists in Ashfield which has been the harder sell on the doorstep in this 70% Leave voting area, a second referendum or Jeremy Corbyn, and the answer has always been the latter.

Even Natalie Fleet, the Labour candidate agreed, saying they had lots of problems on the campaign trail but Corbyn cropped up the most.

The Conservative winner here, Lee Anderson, is a sign of what has happened to the Labour vote, as 18 months ago he was a Labour councillor who defected.

He cited the party's move to the left and, as he put it, the takeover of that Jeremy Corbyn and Momentum group.

In one person you have a snapshot of what has happened to Labour here and across Nottinghamshire.

The former mining constituency is not a traditional Tory ground, but a strong contingent of Leave voters and the departure of former Labour MP John Mann saw the seat swing to the Tories.

The final Labour seat to fall was Ashfield, another mining town that was taken by former Labour activist-turned Tory candidate Lee Anderson.

Mr Anderson came to prominence in the election campaign for saying "nuisance" council tenants should live in tents and pick vegetables.

He was then apparently caught out setting up a door knock while being filmed by political reporter Michael Crick.

Mr Anderson said: "I'm absolutely delighted that I'm the first MP for this area that was born here, raised here, schooled here."

Labour's Lillian Greenwood, who retained her seat in Nottingham South, said: "Labour must reflect and rebuild and offer a real alternative, and I intend to be part of that process."

Former independent MPs Anna Soubry and Chris Leslie both lost their seats to Conservative and Labour candidates respectively.

Both politicians left their parties in February to set up The Independent Group for Change.

At the age of 23, Labour's new Nottingham East MP Nadia Whittome is thought to be the youngest MP in the House of Commons.

In Rushcliffe, voters got a new MP for the first time in 49 years.

Ruth Edwards retained the constituency for the Conservatives after Ken Clarke announced he was stepping down from the Commons.

In her acceptance speech she said: "It's been a real privilege to get to know Ken over the last few months and his counsel has been invaluable.

"He has set a very high standard for Rushcliffe's MP, and I'll be doing my best to live up to it."

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