The leader of the Labour party, Sir Keir Starmer, has praised his party’s win in the Middlesbrough Mayoral election as “fantastic”, after a huge swing saw his candidate Chris Cooke elected.

Despite the sizeable shift in votes to Labour, the margin of victory was narrow, with Mr Cooke winning by 760 votes (10,956) to independent Andy Preston (10,196), who said he was looking forward to “getting his life back”. Turnout was low, at 27.7 per cent.

Another independent - Jon Rathmell - came third, receiving 3,102 votes, beating Conservative candidate John Cooper into fourth, with 2,997 votes on what has so far been a difficult night for the Tories.

Speaking after the victory, Mr Cooke said children’s social care would be one of his priorities.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer with Councillor Vince Maple as he joins party members in Chatham, Kent, where Labour has taken overall control of Medway Council for the first time since 1998 after winning 30 of its 59 seats in the local elections. Picture date: Friday May 5, 2023. PA Photo. The Tories suffered major losses in Rishi Sunak's first electoral test as Prime Minister, with Labour claiming the results suggest Sir Keir Starmer will be able to replace him in No 10. The Liberal Democrats also made gains as the Tories lost control of a series of councils across England. See PA story POLITICS Elections. Photo credit should read: Gareth Fuller/PA Wire

Mr Cooke, who grew up in care, told the BBC: “It's a very humbling process if I'm honest, these sort of things don't always happen to people who come from my sort of background but it's amazing that it has.

"If we don't look after the most vulnerable in our society we are never going to make gains across the town."

Meanwhile, in Medway this morning, where Labour has just taken control of the council from the Conservatives, Sir Keir Starmer said: “You didn’t just get it over the line, you blew the doors off.”

He said there have been “fantastic results across the country” in “places we need to win”, citing victories in Middlesbrough, Plymouth and Stoke.

“Make no mistake, we are on course for a Labour majority at the next general election,” he said.

Sir Keir said Labour has made a “positive case” on how it would help people with the cost-of-living crisis as Mr Sunak “said nothing”.

The Labour leader said: “We’ve changed our party. We’ve won the trust, the confidence, of voters, and now we can go on to change our country. Change is possible. A better Britain is possible.”

The Prime Minister however said his activists had not sensed any enthusiasm or warmth for the Labour leader on the doorsteps.

Speaking to his staff at CCHQ, Mr Sunak said he was: “not detecting any massive groundswell of movement towards the Labour Party or excitement for its agenda”.

You can follow results across Yorkshire as they come in here

Local Elections: Starmer praises “fantastic” result in Middlesbrough as Labour gains continue