Gareth Snell wins Stoke-on-Trent Central by-election for Labour

Paul Nuttall's office in Hanley, Stoke-On-Trent, appears to be defaced with red graffiti.

The Ukip leader and Stoke-On-Trent Central by-election candidate lost out to Labour candidate Gareth Snell by 2,620 votes on Friday.

ITV News Political Correspondent Carl Dinnen said Ukip would be "very disappointed" with the defeat.

"They thought they would run Labour much, much closer. It was a reasonably substantial loss", he added.

The vandalism comes days after Mr Nuttall apologised after he faced a storm of criticism over website posts that wrongly claimed he lost "close personal friends" at the Hillsborough disaster.

• Gareth Snell (Lab) 7,853 (37.09%, -2.22%)
• Paul Nuttall (Ukip) 5,233 (24.72%, +2.07%)
• Jack Brereton (C) 5,154 (24.35%, +1.80%)
• Zulfiqar Ali (LD) 2,083 (9.84%, +5.67%)
• Adam Colclough (Green) 294 (1.39%, -2.22%)
• Barbara Fielding (Ind) 137 (0.65%)
• The Incredible Flying Brick (Loony) 127 (0.60%)
• David Furness (BNP) 124 (0.59%)
• Godfrey Davies (CPA) 109 (0.51%)
• Mohammed Akram (Ind) 56 (0.26%)

Labour Candidate Gareth Snell has ensured the party have held the Stoke-on-Trent Central seat in a by-election.

He beat second placed candidate, UKIP Leader Paul Nuttall by 7,853 votes to 5,233 votes.

More to follow ...

UKIP campaigner Mick Harold, who stood for the Stoke-on-Trent Central seat in 2015, has accused the Labour Party of 'dirty tactics' smearing their candidate Paul Nuttall during the campaign.

Polls have closed in the Stoke-on-Trent Central by-election as counting begins to name the successor to Tristram Hunt. Our Political Correspondent Alison Mackenzie is there for us through the night:

Labour's Erdington MP Jack Dromey is quietly confident that Labour will hold Stoke-on-Trent Central, but is wary of a challenge from UKIP.

Meanwhile Conservative Newark MP Robert Jenrick says the seat is up for grabs.

Bookmakers predict that Labour will hold their seat in Stoke-on-Trent but with a reduced majority.

Polls closed at 10pm. However this is one of the closest contests in the city's central seat for decades, with the Conservatives and UKIP confident they can still challenge Labour's stronghold.

• Labour 8/5
• Ukip 2/1
• Conservatives 10/1
• Liberal Democrats 50/1
• Greens 500/1

A poll by the Electoral Calculus