General Election 2017: LIVE reaction

Labour held on to its North East heartland, retaining seats right across the region. Both Labour and the Conservatives increased their share of the vote at the expense of UKIP, which even saw its vote decline heavily in Hartlepool - its key target seat in the North East.

WATCH: UKIP's Philip Broughton avoids questions from our reporter:

In a night of surprises, the biggest shock result for the North East was in Stockton South, where the former Conservative minister, James Wharton, lost his seat. The Labour and Conservative vote increased, with UKIP and the Liberal Democrats losing out.

Watch Claire Montgomery's report:

Helen Goodman has hung on to her Bishop Auckland seat for Labour, despite predictions it would go to the Conservatives.

She told ITV News Tyne Tees the Tories "over-stretched themselves" when they tried to create a political earthquake in the North East: