The SNP have retaken the Angus seat with a winning margin of 3,795 votes.
SNP challenger Dave Doogan won the seat with 21,216 votes to the 17,421 received by Conservative incumbent Kirstene Hair.
The results for Angus#GE2019 #Angus #localmatters pic.twitter.com/zuXKfvp6ub
— The Courier (@thecourieruk) December 13, 2019
Mr Doogan addressed a large SNP following in the hall after the result was announced.
He said: “I declare my sincere thanks to the electors in Angus. This county has risen above a hollow narrative of division and privilege and today has chosen an SNP perspective of fairness and opportunity above all else.”
In her concession speech, former MP Ms Hair – who took the seat in 2017 with a 16.2% swing – paid tribute to the police who had protected her from a sometimes “toxic” environment.
She said: “Thanks you to the police who have not only kept us all safe today, but a personal thank you for ensuring my safety over the last two and a half years in a sometimes quite toxic environment.”
She had made headlines shortly before the start of the campaign by saying she felt like she was one of the most abused female politicians in Scotland.
She said it “had been the privilege of my life to represent the area I was born in, educated in and I was brought up in.”
“All I wanted to do was deliver for the area that I believe is the best constituency in the whole of the United Kingdom.
“Thank you to all those who cast their vote for me today and I will pledge that I will never stop making that strong case for our United Kingdom,” she added.
Liberal Democrat candidate Ben Lawrie came in third with 2,482 votes, beating his Labour rival Monique Miller into fourth place with 2,051 votes.
The first ballot boxes arrived in Arbroath’s Saltire Centre at 10.14pm as voters at 94 polling stations cast their votes in the first December general election since 1923.
Turnout was 67.6%, up 4.6% on the 2017 general election.
The result came shortly before 2am after the candidates received a private briefing from returning officer Margo Williamson.
Confidence among the SNP group had been high from the start of the evening, after a strong turnout in the parts of the county where they enjoy the most support.
The threatened poor weather failed to materialise across much of Angus as the sky stayed dull and grey, but mostly dry until the evening.
The SNP lost Angus to the Conservatives in 2017 after the nationalist party had held it since its creation for the 1997 general election.
Angus was a firm 56% no vote in the 2014 independence referendum but almost 45% of residents backed leaving the EU, a significantly higher percentage than the Scottish average.
Ms Hair, born and brought up in Brechin, surprised many in 2017 when she overturned the nationalist majority of 11,230, defeating SNP veteran and holder of the seat for 16 years Mike Weir in the process.
In its earlier incarnation as Angus South, the seat had been Tory territory, until the SNP’s Andrew Welsh won in 1974 as part of a group of 11 nationalist MPs.
Ms Hair fought a strong local campaign, highlighting achievements such as her part in retaining and strengthening Royal Marine base RM Condor in Arbroath.
Like her colleagues nationally, she also talked up the threat of an increased SNP presence in Westminster and what that would mean for the prospect of a second independence referendum.
Mr Doogan’s message focused on Brexit, the effect on Scotland of a strengthened Boris Johnson premiership and what that could mean for further private sector involvement in the NHS.
