Candidates who failed to unseat Iain Duncan Smith have called for electoral reform. 

UKIP candidate Freddy Vachha and the Liberal Democrat's Anne Crook both say proportional representation should be introduced after the Conservatives won a majority with 331 seats. 

The former Conservative leader, who will carry on as Work and Pensions Secretary, secured 20,999 votes with a 19.1 share of the vote. 

However, his majority fell from the 30.1 per cent share he achieved in 2010. 

East London and West Essex Guardian Series:

Mr Duncan Smith said he was hugely privileged to be re-elected for a sixth term

Nationally, UKIP secured 3.8million votes, but only managed to retain one seat in Clacton, whereas the Scottish National Party won 434,000 votes to secure 56 MPs in the House of Commons. 

UKIP's Freddy Vachha, who came third in Chingford and Woodford Green with 5,644 votes, is supporting an online petition calling on MPs to hold an electoral review when Parliament reconvenes. 

He said: "Congratulations to all of my fellow candidates on their hard work and success. 

"My branch and I can hold our heads high over my quintupling of UKIP's vote in Chingford & Woodford Green.

"But on average, fewer than 26,000 votes were needed to secure each SNP seat. The corresponding figure for UKIP was over 3,880,000.

"We certainly need to make a great deal of noise about this outrage that first past the post has foisted on us."

The Avaaz petition has over 82,000 signatures. 

The Liberal Democrats suffered a humiliating night nationally and slipped to fourth place in Chingford and Woodford Green with 2,400 votes, an 11 per cent drop from 2010.

GLib Dem candidate Anne Crook said: "We had expected some losses but nothing on this scale.  

"The Lib Dems paid a very high price for being in coalition with the Tories, even though that coalition brought economic stability to the country. 

"The Tories have taken all the credit and the Liberal Democrats have experienced tremendous losses, losing many worthy MPs, including Vince Cable, Simon Hughes & Danny Alexander.

"This election has illustrated very clearly the need for electoral reform so that we can have a truly representative government."

Labour's Bilal Mahmood won his party's highest number of votes in the constituency since 1997.  

He said: "Iain Duncan Smith's majority was reduced from 12,963 to 8,386.

"The people of Chingford and Woodford Green are showing an ever-growing desire for a party that makes a stand for working families, for inclusive communities and for a fairer society. 

"We look forward to rising to that challenge."

Green Party candidate Rebecca Tully said she was "overjoyed" at her party's increase in votes since since 2010, but was "saddened" by the Tories' success. 

Len Hockey, who stood for Trade Union and Socialist Coalition (TUSC), said he predicted support will grow as further cuts to public services are implemented.