Ben Houchen won 73% of the vote ahead of Labour's Jessie Joe Jacobs, the only other candidate.

PA News
Tom Wilkinson

Boris Johnson came face to face with a 30ft (9m) inflatable version of himself in Hartlepool after his party won an historic by-election.

The prime minister commented that the £2,000 replica reminded him of Superintendent Ted Hastings from BBC One's Line Of Duty.

Image source, Reuters

Members of Hartlepool's business community caused a stir when they erected the inflatable outside the town's by-election count at 04:00.

It was later moved to the marina, where the prime minister was meeting the town's new MP, Jill Mortimer.

The group behind the blow-up Boris, known as the Hartlepool Wombles, denied it was a partisan stunt.

One of the group, who asked not to be named, said: "We are doing this to mark a historic change in Hartlepool.

"I'm not particularly political, in fact I didn't even vote."

Second preference votes are being counted in the Northumbria Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) election after no candidate got more than 50% in first preferences.

In the first round, Labour's Kim McGuinness was more than 60,000 votes head - securing 179,021 (47%) votes ahead of Conservative Duncan Crute's 118,543 (31%), independent Julian Kilburn's 45,567 (12%) and Lib Dem Peter Maughan's 40,955 (10%).

A declaration was expected between 15:00-16:00 but it's now expected to be later.

Turnout for the vote is 36.9%

Hartlepool's newly elect MP Conservative Jill Mortimer has told the BBC that people in the town "knew they'd been taken for granted for 57 years and they wanted positive change". She is the first Conservative to win in the town since 1959.

She also cited Brexit, the vaccine roll-out and the record of Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen in bringing investment into the area as other important factors in her victory.

She said that locals "will start to see the difference" in the town.

Luke Walton
BBC Look North

Look North political reporter Luke Walton is covering the Cleveland PCC election and said the result was "not entirely unexpected perhaps because of the Hartlepool by-election result".

He's been at the count in Thornaby where Conservative candidate Steve Turner's has been elected with nearly double the number of votes as his nearest rival.

Luke said: "It's still a big blow for Labour and a massive result for the Conservatives because Labour has lost seats here with the likes of Redcar and Stockton South in recent years, and I was speaking to a Labour party activist here who said the mood of the party is despondent."

Boris Johnson says the by-election result is a "mandate" for his party to "continue to deliver" across the UK.

Sir Keir Starmer took charge of Labour a year ago and has faced his first challenge at the polls.

Boris Johnson has arrived in Hartlepool to meet his balloon double after the Conservatives secured victory in the town's by-election.

The Prime Minister said the win for Jill Mortimer was a signal for the party to carry on delivering its policies to "build back better" after the pandemic.

He told reporters: "It's a mandate for us to continue to deliver, not just for the people of Hartlepool and the fantastic people of the North East, but for the whole of the country.

"If there is a lesson out of this whole election campaign across the whole of the UK is that the public want us to get on with focusing on their needs and their priorities, coming through the pandemic and making sure we build back better."

Former councillor Steve Turner wins with nearly double the number of votes of his nearest rival.

The Conservatives gain the council after two winners were decided by picking lots out of a box.

Conservative Steve Turner easily beat off the other candidates for the Cleveland police and crime commissioner.

Here are the full results:

Steve Turner (C) 74,023

Matthew Storey (Lab) 39,467

Barrie Cooper (Ind) 16,667

Christopher Jones (LD) 6,540

The Conservative candidate has been elected as the Cleveland police and crime commissioner.

Steve Turner, a political advisor and former Redcar and Cleveland borough councillor, gained almost twice as many votes as his nearest rival, Labour's Matt Storey, to win in the first round.

Image source, Conservative Party

Lisa Oldroyd, who was appointed as acting PCC when Barry Coppinger stepped down in in September, did not stand.

Votes are being counted for the Northumbria police and crime commissioner (PCC) role.

Counting started about an hour ago and a declaration is expected this afternoon between 15:00 and 16:00.

Results are being counted for the Cleveland Police and Crime Commissioner.

Early indications are that it's good news for the Conservatives, and bad news for Labour.

Results are still being counted for other council elections, as well as for two mayors and four police and crime commissioners, and it may not be until Monday before they are all announced.

Ones due today are the Cleveland and Northumbria PCCs, and the Tees Valley Mayor.

North Tyneside Council could be today or Saturday.

On Saturday there will be the Durham PCC, North Tyneside Mayor, and Durham County Council along with Hartlepool Council.

All eyes are likely to be on the latter in the light of the Tories winning the parliamentary seat.

The council's 36 seats are up for grabs, and currently with no overall control, it is led by a coalition involving Conservatives, all manner of independents and other groups.

Cumbria PCC results are then due to be announced on Monday.

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Lord Peter Mandelson, the former Labour MP for Hartlepool, has told BBC Radio 4's Today programme he feels "fairly gutted" at the result in Hartlepool and also "a mild fury".

The Conservatives beat Labour, with a Tory MP - Jill Mortimer - elected for the first time in the current constituency's history

He said: "I feel fairly gutted by this result that will obviously certainly please Boris Johnson.

"I feel sad, disappointment above all, for the excellent campaign workers and party staff and volunteers and our excellent candidate, Paul Williams, who fought such a strong campaign."

He added: "I also feel, I have to say, a mild fury, that the last 10 years of what we have been doing in the Labour Party nationally and locally has brought us to this result, because that is above all fundamentally an explanation of what's happened today."

He said he had been knocking on doors in Hartlepool during the campaign and said he knew the reasons for Labour's defeat - "If I really had to boil them down to two things I would say they were two Cs - Covid and Corbyn.

"With a bit of Brexit, previous Brexit Party voters backing the man, Boris Johnson, who delivered them Brexit, and also promises of a large dollop of Tory Government money thrown in for good measure.

"All this as a whole turned out to be too heady a cocktail for Labour's campaign to take on."

The Tories win five vacant seats on the council and defend three seats in Redcar.

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Hartlepool's new Conservative MP has been congratulated by the two other female North East MPs.

Jill Mortimer is the first Conservative to gain the seat since the constituency was created in its current form in 1974.