JOHN Howell pledged to defend the NHS after being returned to parliament with an increased majority.

Mr Howell, who has been MP for the safe south Oxfordshire seat of Henley since 2008, said he wanted to continue campaigning to secure the future of the hospital in the town.

He said: “I feel very strongly about the NHS. I have been campaigning in particular for the future of Townlands Community Hospital.

“A consultation is to be run by the Oxfordshire Clinical Commissioning Group (OCCG) on what it wants to do with the hospital and I will wait for the consultation on that.”

Mr Howell claimed the OCCG wanted to consult on the possibility of running the hospital without residential beds, with more patients being treated at home.

But he said doing so depended on a good link between healthcare and social care.

Yesterday the OCCG confirmed the consultation would begin early next week.

The Tory MP won 32,282 votes, to increase his majority to 25,365 over his nearest rival Sam Juthani of the Labour Party.

In 2010, Mr Howell won 30,054 votes and the Liberal Democrats were second with 13,466.

Turnout for the constituency was 70.3 per cent, slightly down on 71.4 per cent at the last General Election.

Mr Howell said: “I feel quite emotional but I have just massively increased my majority.

“I was not expecting such an increase.

“It is a boost of enormous confidence in me that the people of the Henley constituency have shown.”

He said the strong campaign David Cameron led nationally had helped him win re-election.

He added: “I have campaigned very positively on what the Conservative party has to offer, and what I have to offer for the Henley constituency.

“I think David Cameron has led a very good campaign and that is proving itself with the results around the country.

“Contrary to the doom-mongers, we are doing very well and Labour are looking long in the mouth.”

Mr Juthani not only increased Labour’s vote but also secured second place with 6,917 votes.

Speaking before the results were declared, he said: “It has been a fantastic experience and I have really enjoyed it. We have run a very positive campaign.”

The Liberal Democrat vote collapsed, with Sue Cooper polling 6,205 to finish third, more than 5,000 votes fewer than five years ago when David Rundle stood.

UKIP saw its vote increase dramatically despite candidate Chris Jones only finishing fourth.

At the last General Election, the party also finished fourth but polled just 1,817 votes. This time Mr Jones won 6,007, just 198 shy of the Liberal Democrats.

Green Party candidate Mark Stevenson, who also stood in 2010, increased his vote from 1,328 to 3,815.