Northumberland is a "funny place" according to the council leader, and he was not talking about the election count, where for the second time running dead heats had to be decided by a draw.

Speaking after the Conservatives took overall control, with a majority of one, Glen Sanderson so described the area because it "tends not to follow national trends".

However, in this case, it did - with the Tories gaining seats, as they have in many places elsewhere.

In Northumberland's case he put it down to the council's record in doing "important, every day stuff".

He said: "I think it's because people realise in troubled times we've shown leadership, we've shown courage and our staff have worked fantastically well providing frontline services.

"I think our record speaks for itself, and that's the reason."

As local election votes were counted on Thursday evening, it emerged rivals have put plans in motion to try to replace the Labour party's figurehead, Nick Forbes.

Byker councillor Nick Kemp, who quit the council’s cabinet last summer in a split from Labour’s leaders, confirmed he is putting himself forward to become leader.

it will be decided at the Labour group’s annual general meeting on Monday evening.

Mr Forbes (pictured) said: “I have both a strong track record of delivery and ambitious ideas for the future to put to the Labour group.”

Mr Kemp has sat on the council since 2002 and had previously had responsibility for issues such as trading standards and bin collections in his role as cabinet member for environmental and regulatory services.

Daniel Holland
Local Democracy Reporter

Labour lost two seats in Newcastle and council leader Nick Forbes is to face a leadership challenge next Monday from one of his former cabinet members, Nick Kemp.

The city’s ruling party, which still boasts a heavy majority on the council, saw two seats in the outer west of Newcastle fall to the Newcastle Independents party.

Labour manage to hold off challenges from the Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives’ long run without an election win in Newcastle continued.

The Green Party’s hopes of securing a first seat on the city council were also dashed

There were 28 seats up for grabs - 18 were held by Labour, six held by the Lib Dems, two won by the Newcastle Independents, and two held by independents.

The overall political makeup of the council is now: Labour 52, Lib Dem 20, three Newcastle Independents and three independents.

If you're just joining us, good morning and here is a round-up of what has happened so far:

• The Conservatives won the Hartlepool by-election with Jill Mortimer (pictured below) named as the town's new MP
• Labour had held the seat since the current constituency was created in 1974
• Ms Mortimer won with 15,529 votes, while Labour's Mr Williams received 8,589
• The Conservatives also took control of Northumberland County Council with a majority of one seat
• Labour kept control of Newcastle, Sunderland, Gateshead and South Tyneside Councils but with some losses
• Results still to come are the Northumbria and Cleveland police and crime commissioners (PCC), Tees Valley Mayor and North Tyneside Council later today.
• Durham County Council, Hartlepool Council Durham PCC and North Tyneside mayor are expected on Saturday and Cumbria PCC on Monday

Image source, PA Media

Hartlepool confirms Johnson as a 'vote winner'published at 09:26 British Summer Time 7 May 2021

09:26 BST 7 May 2021

Laura Kuenssberg
Political editor

The rickety folding tables looked like they could hardly cope with the weight of votes for the Tory's candidate, and now elected MP Jill Mortimer, in Hartlepool.

The result: more evidence for the Conservatives that they are digging further and further into territory where once they were total outsiders.

They didn't just win here, they romped home.

Hartlepool, as it's constituted now, has never had a Tory MP. It's also unusual that governments win by-elections - they are often moments when voters remind the administration of the day who is really in charge.

Not this time.

Boris Johnson's party has also scooped up council seats in places like Harlow and Nuneaton, with swings - at what is still, remember, an early stage - that give the impression the Tories really are consolidating their dominance in England.

Despite a bumpy few weeks, it's a reminder for the Tory party of Mr Johnson's record as an election winner.

The Hartlepool result is not a surprise for Labour. And it's important to remember that about 10,000 people voted for the Brexit Party in 2019 there, and at an early glance it seemed many of those voters switched across to the Tories.

But that doesn't mean it's not a setback. The result is more evidence of the long term shift in politics where areas that had chosen Labour for decades were less and less convinced.

Read Laura's blog in full here.

Here's the full breakdown of results in Hartlepool - there were 16 candidates:

• David Bettney, Social Democratic Party - 104

• The Incredible Flying Brick, The Official Monster Raving Loony Party -108

• Hilton Dawson, The North East Party - 163
• Gemma Evans, Women's Equality Party - 140
• Rachel Sara Featherstone, The Green Party - 358
• Adam Gaines, Independent - 126
• Andrew Michael Hagon, Liberal Democrat - 349
• Steve Jack, Freedom Alliance, No Lockdowns, No Curfews - 72
• Chris Killick - 248
• Sam Lee, Independent - 2,904
• Claire Martin, Heritage Party - 468
• Jill Mortimer, Conservative Party - 15,529
• John Prescott, Reform UK - 368
• Thelma Doris Walker, Independent - 250
• W. Ralph Ward-Jackson, Independent - 157
• Paul Daniel Williams, Labour Party - 8,589

Local Democracy Reporting Service
Chris Binding

Labour has kept control of South Tyneside Council.

The party lost four seats but easily retained control, taking 16 out of the 20 seats which were contested across the borough.

Now the council’s overall make-up is 44 Labour councillors, five independents, three Greens, one Conservative and Jeff Milburn who is listed on the council’s website as an Independent Conservative.

The council's leader Tracey Dixon, who retained her seat in Whitburn and Marsden with 1,337 votes, said she was “slightly disappointed” with the result.

She said: “We were hoping that we would retain 20 Labour councillors but unfortunately we have lost four seats and that isn’t for the want of the candidates trying, it’s been a very difficult year for this year’s election."

Curtice: Swing to Tories in Hartlepool not just about Brexitpublished at 08:31 British Summer Time 7 May 2021

08:31 BST 7 May 2021

Labour's loss of the Hartlepool by-election is the most dramatic illustration yet that the party has so far failed to connect with the Leave/working class voters that, the party lost heavily in 2017 and 2019.

Support for the Brexit Party, which registered 26% in 2019, collapsed - the successor Reform party secured just 1% of the vote. It looks as though the Conservatives picked up the Brexit Party's former support, in line with the proportion of Leave voters preferring the Conservatives to Labour to the order of 3/4 to 1.

However, the swing to the Conservatives of 16% is more than can be accounted for by the collapse of the Brexit Party.

Labour's vote fell 9 points to 29%, so the party clearly lost some of its 2019 support, as well as suffering from the movement of Brexit Party voters to the Conservatives. Part of the explanation may lie in the success of independent candidate, Sam Lee, who won 10% of the vote.

Together with the pattern in key wards, there is clearly a debate about whether Labour can win support from Leave voters by ignoring Brexit as it has in the last 12 months.

Local Democracy Reporting Service
Herbert Soden

There's been no change at Gateshead Council.

Labour, as the borough's ruling party managed to retain all its seats with healthy majorities.

This year there were 24 seats up for grabs one for each of the borough’s 22 wards and then an extra for both Lamesley and Birtley – these extra seats were both taken by Labour.

The Lib Dems took five seats, gaining one from an Independent.

Before the results were declared council leader Martin Gannon said voters would judge his councillors on their local performance.

He added: “Whatever people may think of national politics there is a respect and confidence in the way Gateshead Council is run.

“Without being complacent we will continue to work with and engage with communities.

“Generally [voters] respect the way we run the council and that puts us in a secure place.”

Steve Reed, shadow secretary for communities and local government denied the result was a reflection of Keir Starmer's leadership.

Speaking on BBC Breakfast, he said: "Keir's been leader for a year and it's been an extraordinarily unusual year, given that Keir's not yet been able to give a speech in front of a live audience or shake a live voter's hand, because of the restrictions of the pandemic.

"And Keir never made any bones about the fact that we had an electoral mountain to climb after December 2019 - that was our worst result for 85 years.

"We have to win 124 seats back at the next general election simply to draw level with the Conservatives, and that's more seats than any party has won back in a single general election - it was always going to take more than a year to make this change."

There was dismay at the Hartlepool result from within Labour.

Shadow local government secretary Steve Reed said: "People understand the leader has changed, they don't understand that the party has changed, because we haven't yet done enough prove that."

Labour MP Richard Burgon, who was shadow justice secretary under Jeremy Corbyn, called the result "incredibly disappointing".

He tweeted: "Labour's leadership needs to urgently change direction. It should start by championing the popular policies in our recent manifestos - backed by a large majority of voters."

And the left-wing Momentum group, which backed Jeremy Corbyn, described it as a "disaster".

Image source, PA Media

Conservative Jill Mortimer wins the Hartlepool by-election, giving the seat to the Tories for the first time in more than 50 years.

The Conservatives have taken control of Northumberland County Council, with a majority of one.

A dead heat in two of the seats led to a ballot draw - effectively drawing straws - a repeat of the 2017 elections, at which the Tories then lost over all control.

Jill Mortimer, the newly elected Conservative MP for Hartlepool, called her by-election victory a "truly historic result".

Giving a victory speech after the result, she said: "I'm immensely proud to be the first Conservative MP in Hartlepool for 57 years.

"Not only that, I am the first woman ever to be elected as MP for this town.

"It is a truly historic result and a momentous day.

"Labour have taken people in Hartlepool for granted for too long.

"I heard this time and time again on the doorstep and people have had enough and now, through this result, the people have spoken and have made it clear it is time for change."

Image source, PA Media

Hartlepool has a Conservative MP for the first time since the constituency's creation after Jill Mortimer secured a by-election victory.

She beat Labour's Dr Paul Williams in a by-election which was triggered after Labour's Mike Hill stepped down.

Securing a 6,940 majority, winning 15,529 votes to Dr Williams' 8,589, she declared it a "truly historic result".

Image source, PA Media

Conservatives have won the Hartlepool by-election.

Labour had held the town since 1974.

Votes are still being counted in Northumberland.