Norwich South has voted overwhelmingly in support of Clive Lewis for the fourth time as the Labour candidate held his seat.

Mr Lewis won easily with 21,484 votes, with second place going to Green Party candidate Jamie Osborn.

The Norwich South count was held at the UEA SportsparkThe Norwich South count was held at the UEA Sportspark (Image: Emily Goodwin)

"When I've been elected before I've been the opposition, so in a way you know you are going in to hold a government to account, your party isn't in control," said Mr Lewis.

"Now I have my own party that will be running the country hopefully, and the buck stops with me and with them.

"There is a real onus for them to get it right and for me to make sure that they get it right.

"My constituents have given me an opportunity not just to represent them but to ensure that I am going to continue to be Norwich's voice in government rather than parliament's voice in Norwich.

"It doesn't make a difference that there is now a Labour government.

MP Clive Lewis will begin his fourth term for Norwich SouthMP Clive Lewis will begin his fourth term for Norwich South (Image: Emily Goodwin)

"I will probably be talking from the backbenches a lot, I don't expect to be getting a call anytime soon from Keir Starmer, but I will hold their feet to the fire, because I have constituents that have put their faith in me.

"If we don't deliver, there are other political parties coming on to the scene that will say that they have the answers.

"I can't think of a more critical and important time for Labour to show the rest of Europe and the US what a social democratic government can do to people's lives materially better, and spiritually better, if I can say that.

"My top priority for my constituency is making sure that everyone can see a dentist or a doctor, making sure that they don't have to use food banks, making sure that they can have mental health treatment and that we have a mental health system and care system that works.

"Also making sure that people have decent, safe and secure jobs and that they can get housing that isn't damp, leaking, over-priced.

"The list goes on.

"We are inheriting a massive mess, possibly one of the biggest messes that any government has ever faced since the Second World War and we are going to do our best to try and work our way out of that and try to rebuild this country, making sure that the children is schools have enough food that they can concentrate, that there are enough teachers and teaching assistants, and that children with special education needs are looked after."

Jamie Osborn came in second place for the Green PartyJamie Osborn came in second place for the Green Party (Image: Emily Goodwin)

Mr Osborn polled 8,235 votes, and was confident from early in the evening that his party would give the long-standing MP a run for his money.

He said: "This is the highest number of votes that the Green Party has ever had in Norwich South so it is a fantastic result for the Greens.

"We know that people know that, after 14 years in power, the Tories are toast, and won't be back in power for a long time.

"They also look at Labour and see more of the same - that Labour isn't really going to change very much and so people want real action of the climate emergency, they want affordable housing, an NHS that is public and accessible, and those are the things that the Greens are standing for, where Labour is, unfortunately, already backtracking."

David Thomas, Conservative candidate, came in third positionDavid Thomas, Conservative candidate, came in third position (Image: Emily Goodwin)

Conservative candidate David Thomas came in third, with 5,806 votes.

"Well done to Jamie (Osborn), he has run a really good and positive campaign, and clearly a bunch of what he is talking about is what people in this seat really care about.

"That has been reflected tonight and is something for us to think about in the future when we are trying to build a coalition that can win Norwich South back from the Labour Party in the future.

"We need to be thinking about what the platform is that inspires and brings hope and opportunity to younger people and that's the thing that we are going to have to work on over the next few years."

The Norwich South election saw the worst turnout in the last 14 years, with only 59.35pc of constituents (45,283 people) turning up to cast their vote, which is down by around 7pc from the 2019 election.

The results were as follows:

CLIVE LEWIS (L) 21,484

Jamie Osborn (G) 8,245

David Thomas (C) 5,806

Graham Burton (Ref) 5,227

Sean Bennett (LD) 3,577

Linda Law (POW) 455

Elizabeth Davey (Ind) 301

Turnout - 45,283 (59.35pc)