Cheryl Gillan admitted she was as nervous as a kitten on Thursday but at the end of the night she was the cat that got the cream.

Mrs Gillan and the four other parliamentary candidates for the Chesham and Amersham seat waited until 4.15am to find out whether the area's 68 per cent turn-out would see Mrs Gillan returned for the third time running as Tory MP. They did.

The former Government minister said: "I have got some champagne in the fridge to celebrate."

As the counting began at 2am, the ballots stacked up in Mrs Gillan's pile indicating that she would repeat the large majority she gained in the last election.

Rival candidates John Ford, Lib Dem, Rupa Huq, Labour, Nick Wilkins, Green, and David Samuel-Camps, UKIP, waited to see who would be the runner-up in the Tory strong-hold.

Liberal Democrat candidate Mr Ford, who in the last election won 24 per cent of the vote, said at 1.30am: "We thought that some liberal Tories might move over to us.

"But at the moment I'm not sure. I would not like to say, but it looks like a re-run of last time."

Dr Huq who believed the day's weather contributed to the high turn-out added: "I would like to think that our vote held up. But it is too early to tell at this stage."

Meanwhile, Mr Samuel-Camps was hoping to get just a few votes.

He said: "I am not anticipating a lot. I would be happy even to get a couple."

Green candidate Nick Wilkins, who stood in the last election, said he had received a better response this year but admitted that "he was not going to take the place by storm".

He said: "There has been some strong signals, but it would be nice to see an improvement."

As the counting continued into the night, the "nervous kitten" Mrs Gillan looked set to take the spoils.

She said: "My role as MP is something I believe in and I am passionate about it"

CHERYL GILLAN (Con) 25,619

JOHN FORD (L-D) 11,821

RUPA HUQ (Lab) 6,610

NICK WILKINS (Green) 1,656

DAVID SAMUEL-CAMPS (UKIP) 1,391