Lee Johnson
BBC Tees

The results for Hartlepool Council are in and it’s another huge success for the Conservatives, taking every seat they contested.

• Conservatives 13 (+9)
• Lab 11 (+5)
• Independents 10
• Independent Union 2

No party has overall control. A continued coalition of Tories and Independents is highly likely.

Straws have been drawn to decide a winner in one of Hartlepool Council's wards after a tie between two Labour candidates.

It was a dead heat for Moss Boddy and Julie Clayton in the Rossmere Ward.

Moss Boddy won the straw draw.

The result for the full council is expected to be announced later.

John Herdman hopes to be able to display the replica, which took three months to build.

Relive all the action as Oxford United win to take the last League One play-off place, while Charlton and Portsmouth miss out.

Newcastle move to within one point of Premier League safety with an impressive win over Champions League-chasing Leicester City.

Newcastle United manager Steve Bruce says his side's "deadly counter-attack" has made the difference in their positive performances in recent weeks after his side beat Leicester City 4-2.

Leicester City manager Brendan Rodgers says his side's 4-2 defeat against Newcastle United is a "huge disappointment" but he is "excited" by the challenge to make the top four.

The former Labour MP for Bishop Auckland, Helen Goodman, has failed in her bid to become a Durham county councillor.

Ms Goodman, who lost her seat to Conservative Dehenna Davison in the December 2019 general election, had been standing for the West Auckland ward.

Image source, UK Parliament

Incumbent councillors Rob Yorke, Labour, and Conservative Mark Roberts took the ward's two seats, external.

Almost 40 of the council's 63 wards have been declared so far, external.

Mr Yorke secured 1,023 votes and Mr Roberts 993 with a ward turnout of 37%.

Conservative Declan Gilroy finished third with 921 and Ms Goodman, who had been Bishop Auckland's MP since 2005 and was a Labour whip and deputy leader of the House of Commons, came fourth with 731 votes.

Kim McGuiness talks of "a lot of work to do" as she keeps her Police and Crime Commissioner job.

Conservative Ben Houchen has been re-elected the mayor of Tees Valley, receiving just under a 73% share of the vote.

Speaking to the BBC he says there is a "pride returning" to the area, adding it is "not true" the government has pumped lots of money into it over the past few years only because it was run by a Conservative.

He argues he has achieved more with the same amount of money than Labour mayors in the North West.

Houchen adds the problems in his area "won't be solved in a few years" but big projects - like the freeport and the airport - are "moving us in the right direction".

Senior Conservatives have congratulated Ben Houchen on his landslide victory in the Tees Valley mayoral contest.

Party co-chairman Amanda Milling and Chancellor Rishi Sunak were among those who highlighted Mr Houchen's re-election.

Tom Tugendhat, chairman of the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee, said: "Few have done more to transform a community. Teesside is a very different place.

"Leadership matters. We need more elected mayors delivering for our communities."

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

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%

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."

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.