Richard Moss
Political editor, North East & Cumbria

From masked counting of votes to a mayoral candidate getting Covid, 2021’s local elections in the North East were unique.

But in many ways they marked a continuation of political trends that pre-date the pandemic.

Any hopes Labour had of a rapidly bouncing back from losses suffered in the 2019 General Election have been blown away. The party’s 2021 losses were often in the same areas where they struggled then.

The situation in the Teesside area looks particularly serious.

The loss of another MP to the Conservatives in Hartlepool - Jill Mortimer (pictured) is the town's first Tory MP in the current constituency's history - a landslide victory for Ben Houchen in the mayoral race, and another clear Tory win in the Cleveland Police and Crime Commissioner election bear the stamp of a long term shift in loyalties.

The area’s remaining two Labour MPs will be worried they could be next.

Image source, PA Media

Then there was Labour’s loss of Durham County Council after almost a century of control.

Defeats again often came in communities which have Conservative MPs. Places like Ferryhill, Spennymoor, and Tudhoe now have Tory councillors - something once unthinkable.

Sunderland could be next - another year of losses leaves Labour’s hold looking fragile. The party’s three MPs may be feeling edgy.

Labour’s crumbs of comfort came through retention of police commissioner posts in Northumbria and Durham, and continuing dominance in Tyneside.

The Conservative vote rose there too, but they could not break back into the council chambers of Newcastle and Gateshead.

But the scale of Tory advances elsewhere mean that is of little concern to the party. Instead any pressure on the big winners of 2021 will be about delivery.

Where once they were the insurgents, they are now the establishment. Voters may give them time to deliver on promises of investment, but eventually blaming opponents for problems in the communities they now represent will be less convincing.

Durham County Council's Labour group is expected to elect Simon Henig's replacement at the weekend.

A small town with no European pedigree, Middlesbrough produced a series of heroic comebacks to reach the Uefa Cup final 15 years ago.

Richard Moss
Political editor, North East & Cumbria

Among those affected by Sir Keir Starmer's shake-up of his team after poor election results in England is highly-experienced chief whip Nick Brown.

The Newcastle East MP is replaced by the Tynemouth MP Alan Campbell.

This may be the last shadow cabinet hurrah for a chief whip who served Tony Blair, Gordon Brown, Jeremy Corbyn and Keir Starmer.

For four different leaders to make you chief whip indicates how highly his skills were valued.

A spokesman for Mr Brown (pictured) said the MP thought it was "a reasonable time for Nick to move on", adding he and Sir Keir had "parted on good terms, with mutual respect".

Image source, UK PARLIAMENT

The two other North East Shadow Cabinet members remain in post - Middlesbrough's Andy McDonald as Shadow Employment Rights Secretary and Houghton and Sunderland South MP Bridget Phillipson as Shadow Chief Secretary.

Bringing you the latest news from across the North East from Monday 10 May to Friday 14 May 2021

Oxford United boss Karl Robinson receives a four-game touchline ban after being found guilty of improper conduct against Sunderland.

Sunderland will face Lincoln in the League One play-offs after finishing the regular season with a 1-1 draw against relegated Northampton.

Richard Moss
Political editor, North East & Cumbria

With Labour losing overall control of Durham County Council for the first time in a century, discussions will need to take place.

The party lost 21 seats in Thursday's vote leaving it with 53 of the authority's 126 councillors - 11 short of a majority.

Independents and smaller parties won 31 seats, a collective gain of three.

The Conservatives secured 24 seats, a gain of 14, with the Liberal Democrats taking a total of 17 across the county, up three.

Labour clearly needs to do a deal with someone. The Lib Dems or some of the independents seems most likely.

There's not really a rainbow coalition as an alternative to Labour minority admin.

Image source, Durham County Council

Discussions are expected to take place around forming a coalition with other councillors.

Labour's Joy Allen was declared the winner after a full recount of the votes.

Local Democracy Reporting Service
James Harrison

Votes in the contest to become the next Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) for Durham had to be counted twice before Labour’s Joy Allen could be declared winner.

Labour looked to have opened a commanding lead over the Conservatives in the contest after first preference ballots had been tallied up.

But shortly after counting of the second preference votes from the defeated Liberal Democrat candidate began, "discrepancies" were found in the first batch, prompting officials to start again from scratch.

Labour eventually finished with a combined total of 80,510 votes – more than 3,000 ahead of Conservative challenger George Jabbour on 77,352 – once all voted were combined.

Liberal Democrat candidate Anne-Marie Curry was knocked out after the first round of voting and her first preference ballots were redistributed between the surviving pair.

Newcastle Falcons run in five second-half tries to seal a 52-27 win over London Irish after trailing at half-time.

Sam Barratt's hat-trick helps 10-man Maidenhead defeat promotion-chasing Hartlepool.

Labour's Norma Redfearn got almost 14,000 more votes than Conservative Steven Robinson.

Wycombe's relegation from the Championship is rubber-stamped despite finishing with a convincing victory at Middlesbrough.

Conservatives win the most number of seats, but the authority is likely to remain coalition-led.

Luke Walton
BBC Look North

Perhaps I should have brought my sleeping bag to the Durham Police and Crime Commisisioner and Durham County Council counts - it's currently two or three hours behind schedule with a recount for the PCC due to "discrepancies".

Labour were a nose ahead before.

It's unclear what the recount means for the result.

Either way it's a long day ahead - the final ward count starts at 20:00.

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.

We're expecting a few more results this afternoon. Here is what is due to be declared

• Durham County Council
• Hartlepool Council
• Durham Police and Crime Commissioner
• North Tyneside Mayor