CHRIS Evans retained the Islwyn constituency for Labour having secured just short of half of the votes polled.

Joe Smyth finished second for UKIP, a big step forward for the party, which finished a distant seventh in Islwyn in 2010 with less than 1,000 votes.

The Liberal Democrats were the biggest losers, the party;s vote falling by more than 70 per cent on five years ago.

Here are the full results:

Islwyn:
Chris Evans (Labour) 17,346
Joe Smyth (UKIP) 6,932
Laura Jones (Conservative) 5,366
Lyn Ackerman (Plaid Cymru) 3,794
Brendan D'Cruz (Liberal Democrat) 950
Peter Varley (Green) 659
Baron Von Magpie (Monster Raving Looney Party) 213
Joshua Rawcliffe (Trade Unionist/Socialist Coalition) 151