GREG Pope had his majority cut by almost a third as he retained the Hyndburn seat with his third successive victory.

But he warned that all parties have a major job to do to halt the alarming trend which saw voters stay indoors.

The turnout was around 58 per cent, down around 15 per cent on 1997.

And Mr Pope, who secured 20,900 votes -- down 6,000 on 1997, -- said a drastic rethink was needed by all parties.

He said: "Clearly there is something amiss with our political process. The turnout has fallen nationwide and all political parties will have to look very, very carefully how to re-engage and re-energise the voters."

Tory candidate Peter Britcliffe also saw his votes fall from the previous campaign to 12,681, down nearly 3,000.

But the Hyndburn Council leader, who vowed to fight on, took heart in having cut the Labour majority.

He said: "I am disappointed and really I feel that the election was very sad. As someone who has been involved in politics in Hyndburn for over 40 years to see a turnout as low as 58 per cent to me is criminal, it is absolutely abysmal.

"Democracy is very fragile and if people choose not to use their democratic right to vote it becomes even more fragile.

"But I am pleased that the grip Labour has on this constituency has been reduced. For Conservatives to reduce the Labour majority by a third is an achievement which I recognise." Mr Pope thanked his wife Kate and his three children and praised his opponents for a fair and clean campaign.

He said: "It is an immense privilege to be the MP of Hyndburn and when I return to Parliament next week I will do so as a member of the first second-term Labour government in history.

"This is a wonderful night for the Labour party here in Hyndburn. It's an absolute vindication of our policies on social justice and a rejection of the Conservative's extreme views on Europe and asylum seekers."

Liberal Democrat candidate Bill Greene hailed his 3,680 votes as a success on which his party can build.

He said: "I am delighted. Conservatives have the real problem and Labour has the problem to deal with its success. We don't have any problems and I am committed to staying here for the next five years to build on this success."

John Tomlin, of the UK Independence Party received 982 votes, less than the 10 per cent needed to retain the £500 deposit.

He said: We are quite a new party to this area and we were hoping for 1,500 votes."

A dejected Peter Britcliffe faced a final ignominy of the night when he trooped out of the Hyndburn sports hall run by the very council he is the leader of.

Sucking on a cigarette the beaten candidate sat in the foyer and vowed he would become the MP for the area in four years.

But his bold claims failed to impress the staff who told him to put his fag out.

One member of staff said: "It will set the alarms off and we don't want the fire brigade out at this time."

A quick search for an ashtray was fruitless with the stern staff refusing to get one from the upstairs bar leaving Mr Britcliffe red-faced.

Taking his last precious drags he passed it on to one of his entourage who took the offending item outside and promptly stamped it out -- rather like his hopes in last night's General Election.