Labour win the Oldham West and Royton by-election

UKIP leader Nigel Farage has hit out strongly after Labour won a crushing victory in the by election for Oldham West and Royton.

Labour actually increased their share of the vote in the seat vacated by the death of veteran MP Michael Meacher. They won by more than ten thousand votes.

UKIP were a distant second - but their leader's come out fighting today. Nigel Farage blamed postal voting and mass immigration for his party's failure.

Ukip leader Nigel Farage has said his party will make a formal complaint after claiming the Oldham West and Royton by-election was "bent."

Mr Farage said he was not questioning Labour's victory, but denounced the electoral process as "bent" after claims that people had arrived at polling booths carrying bundles of postal votes.

He said the result raised questions about the conduct of elections in areas with large ethnic minority communities and claimed that in constituencies with large numbers of minority voters who do not speak English "effectively the electoral process is now dead".

"As a veteran of over 30 by-elections I have never seen such a perverse result. Serious questions need to be asked," Mr Farage said.

Jim McMahon has tweeted to thank people for their support after securing victory for Labour in the Oldham by-election.

New Labour MP Jim McMahon who won yesterday's by-election in Oldham West and Royton, following the death of Michael Meacher, says the party's win is down to its positive campaign.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said he is "delighted" following news of the Oldham West and Royton by-election win.

The Oldham West and Royton by-election results were as follows:

• Labour's Jim McMahon polled 17,322 votes with a majority of 10,837
• Labour's share of the vote increased to 62.7% and there was a 2.39% swing from Ukip to Labour
• Ukip's John Bickley came second on 6,487 votes
• Tory James Daly was third with 2,596, 9.33% of the vote
• Liberal Democrats lost their deposit after Jane Brophy secured 1,024 votes, a 3.68% share

Newly elected MP for Oldham West and Royton Jim McMahon said Labour has "delivered a result Michael Meacher would be proud of."

Labour win the Oldham West and Royton by-election.

Jim McMahon was elected by the voters in Oldham West and Royton as their new MP. Jim was elected with a majority of over 10,000 and a turnout of 40.2%.