Michael Scott came out on top last night as Sandys North held true to its reputation as a traditional Progressive Labour Party seat.

With 577 votes, the incumbent MP beat One Bermuda Alliance candidate Ray Charlton by 280 votes — a marked difference to the 2012 General Election, when he won by only eight votes.

“I’m relieved that we’ve been able to convert emphatically our marginal numbers to an emphatic gain in numbers,” Mr Scott told The Royal Gazette as the results were announced.

“I’m really grateful to the voters of Sandys North for this clear and emphatic mandate and endorsement of not only the party, and incidentally myself.”

Mr Scott, who first won the seat in the 2007 General Election, added that he recognised that his constituents had been rejecting the direction Bermuda had been taken in by the OBA.

“I know that the party leader, David Burt, and the party as a whole, will take that message from the people and work to make the course and direction of the country one that unifies Bermuda more than it has been of late, gets all the matters that we’ve listed as our plan in place. This is on the basis that the PLP is made the Government.”

According to the Parliamentary Registry website, a total of 874 votes were cast in Sandys North, which has 1,254 registered voters — an increase of 84 votes compared with the 2012 General Election.

Mr Scott said he was pleased with the turnout, adding: “That’s, I think, the reason why it has calculated into the increase of my vote over that very marginal eight.”

Meanwhile, Mr Charlton, who received a total of 297 votes, said his efforts in Sandys North had not translated into votes.

”Obviously I’m disappointed,” he said, thanking those who supported and voted for him along with his team.

“I am pleased with the amount of work I have done in the past 4½ years,” he added. “I think I’ve made a huge difference to the West End, especially in the Dockyard area.

“I will have to go back and look at this result. Obviously Mr Scott has been supported greatly and I’ve lost numbers. My efforts have not translated into votes.

“I’ll have to go back and analyse what’s going on and if I have the opportunity of still serving the people of the West End, I’m happy to serve.”