He was the former high-flying minister whose sense of humour on Twitter won him the admiration of many Remainers.

But nothing could save David Gauke from defeat in South West Hertfordshire in the face of a nationwide Conservative landslide.

Without the backing of a party machine, the former justice secretary and chief secretary to the treasury used social media to send out his wry and sometimes angry observations on Brexit and the Conservative campaign.

He had the backing of former prime minister John Major and ex-Tory rebel Rory Stewart, and some would say the tacit support of opposition parties in the constituency.

He was not afraid to poke fun at his former party, though perhaps hiding in a fridge did not work so well for him as it did for Boris.

And he even showed he had heard of a band from the 1990s.

But when results came in this morning at a little later than 4.35am he polled just 15,919 votes - a little over half that of Essex-based Conservative councillor Gagan Mohindra.

Some distance behind came Labour's Ali Aklakul with 7,228 and the Liberal Democrats' Sally Symington - unusually low in an area with many Lib Dem councillors.

See all the results for south Herts and north London at a glance.

And finally was Green Party candidate Tom Pashby with 1,466.

Mr Gauke was gracious in defeat. Some would say the numbers are against him, but he feels there is still a place for centrist politics.

Watch: David Gauke's warning to Boris in his resignation speech