Censured Redcar and Cleveland council leader loses seat

Independent council leader Mary Lanigan lost her seat, replaced by two independents and one Labour councillor

A council leader who breached the authority's code of conduct has lost her seat in the local elections.

Redcar and Cleveland Council's out-going leader Mary Lanigan came fourth in the Loftus ward election, replaced by two independent councillors and one from Labour.

Ms Lanigan was formally censured in March after she "shouted like a banshee" during a neighbour dispute.

Elsewhere in the region, Labour now have control of Middlesbrough Council.

In a shock result, Labour also ousted Andy Preston by 760 votes, with Chris Cooke becoming Middlesbrough's mayor.

Ms Lanigan, an independent, received 405 votes, losing out to fellow independent Wayne Davies who got 570 votes and Labour candidates Wayne Davies and Linda Carol White, with 570 and 540 votes.

In Middlesbrough, Labour now have a majority of four seats, having gained five.

Eight independent councillors lost their seats, with the Conservatives gaining one and the Lib Dems gaining two.

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• Hartlepool election result

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Labour lost out on control of Darlington Council - having 24 seats in total, having gained five.

The Conservatives have 15, with the Green Party on seven.

Two independents lost their seats.

Steve Harker, leader of the Labour group on the council, thanked residents for restoring their trust in the party after stating the town had "lost trust" in the Conservatives.

Darlington's Tory MP Peter Gibson raised concerns about a potential Labour and Green Party collation "refusing to work with me over political differences".

However, he said he would "continue to work as hard as I have done since day one".

Overnight, Labour also celebrated becoming the biggest party on the council in Hartlepool but remain one seat short of an overall majority, which was all down to just two votes.

They missed out in Hart ward to the Conservatives by 493 to 491, which leaves them with 18 out of 36 councillors. The council remains under no control.

'Fairly positive'

Hartlepool MP Jill Mortimer, who was at the count, said Labour missing out on gaining control was good news.

She said: "I think looking at the thing in the round, what we were expecting could happen here, I think it's fairly positive for us.

"Labour have failed to take overall control of the council, which is what they were boasting they were going to do, they were going to take the council back again, so I think that's very good."

She added most of the seats gained by Labour had been from independent councillors, with just two being held by Conservatives prior to the polls.

Labour group leader Brenda Harrison, who will become council leader, said it was disappointing to lose a seat so narrowly "but that's what I suppose they call politics".

Labour's Brenda Harrison says the party will stick to its five election pledges

She told BBC Radio Tees: "I think, being the largest group, we will manage to actually get the control that we need.

"It's good for the town to get back to some kind of governance that will look to do something for the people of Hartlepool and to try and improve their lives."

The Conservatives gained 11 seats on Stockton Council, with 23 councillors to Labour's 22.

Despite the gains, they are short of a majority by four seats.

Nine independents and two Lib Dems lost their seats. Labour made no gains or losses.