THE team behind Liberal Democrat Richard Younger-Ross has claimed there is nothing to be read into his no-show at the Newton Abbot count.

As the clock approached 3am and despite the count being well under way with all the other candidates at Newton Abbot Racecourse for more than four hours, his agent, Sally Morgan, insisted Mr Younger-Ross was performing to type.

Having said initially that he'd not been well of late and was staying at a nearby hotel, she added: 'He's relaxing in his room and will be here when he chooses.

'He's not usually here until he has to be. He doesn't need to be here yet, he has his team here.'

Mr Younger-Ross held the Teignbridge seat for the Lib Dems until the creation of the Newton Abbot constituency in 2010. He lost out to Conservative Anne Marie Morris by just 523 votes having previously fended off Tory hopeful Stanley Johnson – Boris Johnson's father – in the 2005 contest with a 6,000 majority.

At time of writing the Lib Dems were predicted to lose 47 seats across the UK leaving them with ten.