Elections 2021: Labour retains Durham PCC role

Labour's Joy Allen was declared winner following a full recount

Labour has retained the role of Durham Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) after votes had to be counted twice.

Joy Allen claimed victory with a total of 80,510 votes, more than 3,000 ahead of Conservative challenger George Jabbour on 77,352.

The recount happened after "discrepancies" were found in the first batch of ballot papers counted.

Former Labour PCC Ron Hogg died in December 2019 after being diagnosed with motor neurone disease.

Labour looked to have a commanding lead over the Conservatives after first preference ballots had been counted.

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 the count again, the Local Democray Reporting Service said.

It was later revealed this had been caused by votes for the Lib Dems and Conservatives being "incorrectly recorded on the final return sheet".

The recount saw the Tories gain about 3,400 first preference votes.

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

BBC Look North political correspondent Luke Walton said: "The result represents a big swing from Labour to Conservatives compared to 2016.

"But after disastrous Labour results in neighbouring Tees yesterday, I expect the party will be relieved to end up ahead."

On Friday Jill Mortimer was elected Hartlepool's first Tory MP in the current constituency's history and Conservative Ben Houchen was re-elected as Tees Valley Mayor.

Mr Hogg, a former police officer, was the inaugural holder of the post, winning elections in 2012 and 2016.

After he stepped down the PCC office's chief executive, former Police Federation boss Steve White, took over on a temporary basis until elections, already scheduled for 2020, could be held.

However, the coronavirus pandemic forced polls to be postponed, leaving him to continue on an acting basis for an extra year.