THE SNP's Brendan O'Hara has won a third term as the MP for Argyll and Bute.

Mr O'Hara polled 21,040 votes, giving him a majority of 4,110 over the Conservatives' Gary Mulvaney – more than three times bigger than his margin of victory at the last General Election in 2017.

Mr Mulvaney polled 16,930 votes – almost a thousand more than he received when he contested the seat two years ago – but it wasn't enough to loosen the SNP's grip on the seat.

Alan Reid - who served as the area's MP for 14 years from 2001 to 2015 - came a distant third for the Liberal Democrats, with Labour's Rhea Barnes in fourth.

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The result was declared by returning officer Cleland Sneddon at the Mid Argyll Sports Centre in Lochgilphead at 5.45am on Friday.

Turnout in Argyll and Bute was 72.4 per cent, and the total number of votes cast was 48,192.

Mr O'Hara is one of 48 SNP candidates elected to Westminster; Scotland also elected six Conservatives, four Liberal Democrats and a single Labour MP, while there is one candidate - Neale Hanvey, who was suspended by the SNP during the campaign - who was elected officially as an independent, though he appeared on the ballot paper as an SNP candidate.

Full Argyll and Bute result, with vote share and percentage change from 2017 in brackets:

Brendan O'Hara (SNP) – 21,040 (43.7%, +7.8%)

Gary Mulvaney (Conservative) – 16,930 (35.1%, +2.0%)

Alan Reid (Liberal Democrat) – 6,832 (14.2%, -4.0%)

Rhea Barnes (Labour) – 3,248 (6.7%, -5.8%)

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