U.K. Conservatives see majority cut as voters flock to pro-EU opposition party

British Prime Minister Theresa May's ruling Conservative Party held the parliamentary constituency vacated by David Cameron but saw its majority cut significantly as thousands of voters flocked to a pro-European Union opposition party.

Just weeks after Britons backed Brexit, former Prime Minister Cameron said he would resign as a lawmaker from the southern English seat of Witney, which bucked the national trend by voting to remain in the European Union.

On Friday, Robert Courts and the Conservatives retained the constituency, garnering 17,313 votes, but saw their share of their vote fall from 60 per cent to 45 per cent compared to the general election result last year.

The second-placed Liberal Democrats, Britain's most consistently pro-European party, won 11,611 votes, significantly increasing their vote share to 30 per cent, according to official results. The opposition Labour Party slipped into third place.

In the West Oxfordshire area which contains Witney, 54 per cent of voters backed remaining in the European Union, whilst nationally 52 per cent of Britons supported leaving the bloc in the June 23 referendum.

The pro-EU Liberal Democrats campaigned heavily in the seat hoping to cause an upset by winning over centrist Conservative voters disillusioned by May's push for a "hard Brexit", which would see Britain outside of the European single market.

Larry Sanders, the brother of U.S Senator Bernie Sanders, stood for the Green Party and came fourth in the poll.

In another special election Thursday, Labour candidate Tracy Brabin was elected to the northern England seat of slain Labour lawmaker Jo Cox.

Cox was shot and stabbed to death June 16. As a mark of respect, the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats did not contest the election.