Conservatives take surprise wins in Labour heartlands in Mayoral elections

The Conservatives have taken two seats in the traditional Labour heartlands as they made gains in the election of six new 'metro Mayor' posts.

There was jubilation among the Tories after their candidate Ben Houchen won a shock victory in Tees Valley after a run-off against Labour rival Sue Jeffrey.

Mr Houchen described the result as a "political earthquake" which could mark the start of the area "turning blue" ahead of the upcoming General Election.

There was another political upset as former John Lewis boss Andy Street took the West Midlands post in a narrow victory after a campaign largely based around a pledge to make a success of Brexit.

A huge cheer went up among watching supporters and activists after his victory was announced.

Conservative Tim Bowles also became the first regional mayor for the West of England, while Labour's Steve Rotheram was elected the new metro mayor of the Liverpool City Region.

Greater Manchester saw an easy win for former Labour cabinet minister Andy Burham, who was overwhelmingly tipped to win the post.

Conservative James Palmer won the election in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough in the last of the metro mayor posts to be announced.

The six 'metro Mayors' cover newly-formed combined local authority areas and hold more power than the more common city mayors.

In the directly-elected mayoral contest, Labour's Ros Jones was re-elected as Doncaster mayor after taking more than 50% of the vote in the first round.

It was a similar story in North Tyneside, where Labour candidate Norma Redfearn also won re-election after taking more than half of votes.