There are certainly lessons to be learnt from this result, the Labour candidate built his campaign around the NHS, and the closure of the local A&E department, while it seems that the electors were more concerned with the back sliding of the government on the Brexit issue.
The Tories were always going to win this seat, and did so, albeit with a greatly reduced majority, down from 25,000 to 13,000, on a very low turnout of 37%.
In number voting terms the difference between UKIP, Lib Dems, and Labour was small, voters will have been clear what UKIP and the Lib Dems policy on leave is, perhaps not so clear on the Labour Party position.
The Tory candidate, a local children's doctor, had always been a leave advocate, and stressed the importance of triggering article 50, an obvious importance in an area which had voted overwhelmingly in the referendum to leave the EU.
The result in full:
Caroline Johnson: (Conservatives) - 17,570
Victoria Ayling: (UKIP) - 4,426
Ross Pepper: (Liberal Democrats) - 3,606
Jim Clarke: (Labour) - 3,363
Marianne Overton: (Lincolnshire Independent) - 2,892
Sarah Stock: (Independent) - 462
The Iconic Arty-Pole: (Monster Raving Loony Party) - 200
Paul Coyne: (Independent) - 186
Mark Suffield: (Independent) - 74
David Bishop: (Bus Pass Elvis Party) - 55
