Former accountant David Heathcoat-Amory has been re-elected as the Conservative MP for Wells.

Only a handful of accountants were thought to be standing in yesterday's general election, and their success appears to have been mixed.

One conspicuous success was that of Justine Greening in Putney.

Greening, a Conservative, won the marginal, 53rd on the Tories' target list, in an early indication of Tory success in London as a whole. The news was one of the first marginal seats to declare.

Greening currently works as a finance manager at Centrica.

Heathcoat-Amory's victory came through later, at around 4am. The former Price Waterhouse trainee increased his majority to just over 3,000.

Labour candidate Sarah McCarthy-Fry was also victorious. The CIMA-qualified accountant fought off a determined Tory challenge in Portsmouth North.

Lib Dem accountants standing did not fare as well. ACCA trained Nasser But, in Mole Valley, Gordon Beever in Ryedale, Mike Cox in Ruislip Northwood, Victor D'Albert in Bury South, Ian Jackson in Lichfield and Steve Sollitt in Southampton Test all lost.