David Burch won his first seat in the House of Assembly, defeating OBA candidate Sheila Gomez by more than 300 votes in Warwick North Central.

While the constituency had been labelled a marginal following Wayne Scott’s narrow ten-vote victory in 2012, the result this time was anything but marginal.

By the end of the day, Mr Burch had won 661 votes, while Ms Gomez had secured 338.

“I am extremely humbled and gratified for the confidence of the people of seat 27, and I will not let them down,” he said.

Asked if he had his eye on any particular seat in the PLP Cabinet, he said that would be a decision of the party leader.

The race had put Ms Gomez, a political newcomer, against Mr Burch, a former PLP senator and Cabinet member.

Historically, the seat had been considered a PLP stronghold. However, a change in constituency boundaries in 2010 granted the OBA a chance to secure the seat.

In the 2012 election, they did just that with Mr Scott edging past Mr Burch in the polls by ten votes.

However, unlike this year, the 2012 election also featured an independent candidate Roderick Simons, who won 22 votes — enough to have potentially turned the tide in either direction.

Voter turnout in the constituency was up this year, with 999 voters casting a ballot compared to 884 last time.

Before the count began, Mr Burch said it had been a “great day for democracy”, adding “by our count we have had more voters than last election, and that’s a good thing.”

“People are engaged in democracy, and that’s good for the country.”

Meanwhile, Ms Gomez said: “I can say I’m cautiously optimistic. I have seen a lot of support, I have had a lot of nudges from people.

“I just have a feeling about today, but the numbers will tell.”