Nick Brown has held his Newcastle East seat for Labour, as has Julie Elliott in Sunderland Central, albeit with a reduced majority.

More to follow.

Here's a slightly better picture of the festive gentleman we mentioned earlier.

It appears to be a turkey hat on his head - could this be a Friends reference?

Anyway, we approve of the jacket...

Bishop Auckland Labour candidate Helen Goodman looks on as votes are counted.

She’s told me she is expecting defeat to the Conservatives here, and has done for some time.

She blames a combination of Brexit, her leader’s unpopularity, and “Tory lies” nationally and locally.

The Conservatives have won the former mining constituency, which has been in Labour hands since 1950.

Bob Cooper
Political reporter, BBC Cumbria

The Green Party candidate in Redcar, Rowan McLaughlin, is whiling away the time until the declaration by sewing a protest banner:

Fergus Hewison
BBC Newcastle political reporter

Not as seismic as the result in Blyth Valley of course, but Bridget Phillipson’s majority in Houghton & Sunderland South being cut from more than 12,000 to just over 3,000 is hugely significant.

Sunderland Central result up next and it’s even closer we’re told.

Chi Onwurah has been re-elected as the MP for Newcastle Upon Tyne Central, with a decreased majority.

The Labour candidate beat Conservative Emily Payne by 12,278 votes, 2,659 votes less than the majority at the 2017 election.

Ali Avaei of the Liberal Democrats came third and the Brexit Party's Mark Griffin came fourth.

• General election 2019: Latest national results
• Election 2019: Election words and phrases explained

Voter turnout was down by 2.2 percentage points since the last general election.

More than 37,000 people, 64.8% of those eligible to vote, went to polling stations across the area on Thursday, in the first December general election since 1923.

One of the five candidates, Tay Pitman (Green) lost her £500 deposit after failing to win 5% of the vote.

This story was created using some automation.

Conservative Ian Levy has just been elected as the MP for Blyth Valley - a seat which has never had a Tory MP.

Speaking after the result, he thanked his team, his wife, the people of Blyth Valley and "Boris".

He said: "This is a huge responsibility I have taken on.

"I will be going to London on the train on Monday... we're going to get Brexit done and build a strong economy for the UK."

David Rhodes
BBC political reporter

You cannot underestimate what the Conservatives taking Blyth Valley means in the context of the General Election.

For more than three decades Thatcherism was blamed for closing the area's pits and heavy industry.

Every Labour seat in the North is in play this evening.

Ian Levy has been elected as the MP for Blyth Valley, beating Labour's Susan Dungworth by 712 votes in the first upset of the night.

The Conservative Party overturned a 7,915 vote majority to take the seat, a Labour heartland since it was created in 1950.

Mark Peart of the Brexit Party came third and Liberal Democrat Thom Chapman came fourth.

• General election 2019: Latest national results
• Election 2019: Election words and phrases explained

Voter turnout was down by 3.6 percentage points since the last general election.

Nearly 41,000 people, 63.4% of those eligible to vote, went to polling stations across the area on Thursday, in the first December general election since 1923.

One of the five candidates, Dawn Furness (Green) lost her £500 deposit after failing to win 5% of the vote.

This story was created using some automation.

Three County Durham results due around 03:00 GMT.

Bridget Phillipson has been re-elected as the MP for Houghton & Sunderland South, with a significantly decreased majority.

The Labour candidate beat Conservative Christopher Howarth by 3,115 votes, less than half the majority at the 2017 election.

The constituency was the second to declare its result, having been the first in 2015.

Kevin Yuill of the Brexit Party came third and Liberal Democrat Paul Edgeworth came fourth.

• General election 2019: Latest national results
• Election 2019: Election words and phrases explained

Voter turnout was down by 3 percentage points since the last general election.

Nearly 40,000 people, 57.8% of those eligible to vote, went to polling stations across the area on Thursday, in the first December general election since 1923.

Two of the six candidates, Richard Bradley (Green) and Richard Elvin (UKIP) lost their £500 deposits after failing to win 5% of the vote.

This story was created using some automation.

Blyth Valley, a Labour heartland since the seat was created in 1950, having only ever been held by Labour and Independent Labour candidates in that time, has been taken by the Conservatives in the first shock of the night:

The votes were as follows:

• Liberal Democrat - Thom Chapman - 2,151
• Labour - Susan Dungworth - 16,728
• Green - Dawn Furness - 1,146
• Conservative - Ian Levy - 17,440
• The Brexit Party - Mark Peart - 3,394

Labour's Bridget Phillipson has held Houghton & Sunderland South with 16,210 votes.

Liberal Democrat - Ali Avaei - 2,709

The Brexit Party - Mark Griffin - 2,542

Labour - Chi Onwurah - 21,568

Conservative - Emily Payne - 9,290

Green - Tay Pitman - 1,365

Labour hold the first seat announced in the 2019 General Election.