A CUMBRIAN constituency had the third largest majority in the UK - and the biggest one that was not a Labour win. 

The Liberal Democrat candidate Tim Farron won Westmorland and Lonsdale in the 2024 General Election on July 4 by 21,472 votes. He was only beaten to second place by three votes - the Labour candidate Catherine West won by 21,475 in Hornsey and Friern Barnet in north London. 

The candidate who won by the biggest margin was Labour's Peter Dowd for Bootle in Merseyside with 21,983 votes. 

Tim Farron when he was re-elected as the Liberal Democrat candidateTim Farron when he was re-elected as the Liberal Democrat candidate (Image: Tim Farron)

Although Mr Farron has had the seat since 2005 he has at points come close to losing it to the Conservatives - mostly notably in 2017 when he only beat James Airey by 777 votes. 

Since 2019, the Westmorland and Lonsdale constituency boundary has shifted - losing Kirkby Lonsdale and Sedbergh and gaining Kirkby Stephen and Appleby. 

If the constituency had the same borders going into the 2019 election, Mr Farron would have lost his seat.

Mr Farron previously told this publication: "I am properly humbled. There's no right to be our MP. To win and win by that amount is humbling. It is a total privilege to serve Westmorland." 

The election proved to be a good night for Labour and the Liberal Democrats, with the former now in government and the latter winning 64 more seats. 

Describing his job as an MP, Mr Farron said: "99 per cent of things don't happen on the floor of the House of Commons. It's working together like bringing back post offices in Shap, reopening the maternity unit in Kendal, use the influence we have got - campaign and achieve things." 

Mr Farron's total vote count was 31,061 - representing over 60 per cent of the share. 

The second placed candidate in Westmorland and Lonsdale with Conservative candidate Matty Jackman, with 9,589 votes. In third place was Reform UK candidate James Townley, who received 4,842 votes. 

The MP who won by the smallest majority in the UK was Labour's David-Pinto Duschinsky by just 15 votes in Hendon, Greater London.

Labour MP Neil Duncan-Jordan won Poole, historically a safe Conservative seat, by 18 votes.