Phil Wilson was this morning re-elected as Newton Aycliffe’s Member of Parliament in the General Election.
In what is turning out to be a shocking night for Ed Miliband, with the Labour leader set to resign, his party still strengthened its hold in the North East.
Mr Wilson increased his number and share of the Sedgefield votes on the 2010 election – his figure of 18,275 is a 2.1% increase to 47.2% of the share and 134 more votes than the last election – although his overall majority was reduced by 1,853 to 6,843.
The Conservatives candidate Scott Wood came second with 11,432 votes (29.5%), a 6% rise on 2010.
UKIP candidate John Leathley was third with 6,426 votes, representing 16.6% of the votes – a huge jump of 12.9%.
Stephen Glenn (Lib Dems) was third with 1,370 and Green Party candidate Greg Robinson came fourth with 1,213 votes.
It’s the third time Mr Wilson has been returned to Parliament after first winning the 2007 by-election followed by his 2010 success.
But the national picture for the Labour Party is, by Mr Wilson’s admission, “bleak”.
The SNP has wiped out Labour in Scotland while key seats have also been lost in England, including that of shadow treasurer Ed Balls.
Results are still coming in, but the prediction is that David Cameron’s party has defied the polls, and the Conservatives will be in a position to form a Government with a slender majority.