Gyles Brandreth's daughter Aphra follows father's footsteps to represent Chester for Conservatives
The daughter of broadcaster and former MP is following in her father's footsteps after winning a seat in the General Election for the Conservative party.
Aphra Brandreth - daughter of former Chester Tory MP Gyles Brandreth - was elected to the new Chester South and Eddisbury seat.
She won with 19,905 votes, beating Labour's Angeliki Stogia, who polled 16,848, to secure the seat. Reform UK's Peter Langley came third.
Ms Brandreth says her father was “over the moon” with the result.
“I’m excited, and I think it’s going to be a steep learning curve,” Ms Brandreth told local paper CheshireLive following her election.
“Obviously, my dad was an MP so he has given me some good insight into the role, but of course it has changed.“He has been a huge champion and supporter of mine, and I’m very lucky to have such an amazing dad,” said Ms Brandreth, adding that her parents were “over the moon” and “very excited” upon hearing the result.
The new MP got her start in politics in her teenage years when she was made a ‘junior member’ of her father’s election campaign team during his time as MP for Chester between 1992 and 1997.
Speaking on Good Morning Britain about his daughter's win, Gyles said her campaign was "entirely positive".
"I'm bursting with pride," he said. "Wearing my heart on my sleeve because Aphra Brandreth, against the odds, was chosen by the people to be their new MP with a majority of 3,000, over Labour and with Reform trailing.
"What's interesting about her campaign, I was up there watching it, trying to learn from her - and she's very much her mother's daughter - was that it was an entirely positive campaign, played locally.
"Her commitment to the community was extraordinary and she has achieved a wonderful result."
He continued: "But as we know, I really feel today, my heart also goes out to all the losers of all the parties.
"They say you shouldn't take it personally, but you really do take it personally, they will have fought so hard and so long to achieve and they haven't, it's a tough day for them."
Speaking about her victory, Ms Brandreth said: “I’m very grateful that people have put their faith in me. I know there have been big challenges, and in my campaign I have been extremely visible, I have spoken to thousands of people, and focused on what people want me to deliver on locally in a positive, constructive way.“I hope that helped me to be successful on the night. On the doorstep a range of views have been coming up, but ultimately, people want somebody who is going to work hard to represent them locally, and now I intend to deliver on that.“It is a beautiful, lovely, vibrant part of the world, but I want to ensure we are getting investment into the constituency, both in terms of the Chester wards, making sure our high streets continue to thrive, but also making sure we get investment into the rural parts of the constituency.
Ms Brandreth's win was the first Cheshire Tory win of the night with the result coming in just before former TV presenter Esther McVey was declared the winner in Tatton.
Just three Conservative MPs remain in the region, with Andrew Snowdon elected to represent Fylde.
Chester South and Eddisbury:
Aphra Brandreth, Conservative Party - 19,905
Steve Davies, Green Party - 2,278
Gillian Edwards, Independent - 1,611
Rob Herd, Liberal Democrats - 5,430
Peter Langley, Reform UK - 6,414
Angeliki Stogia, Labour Party - 16,848
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