The result has just been declared in South Shields, where, as expected, Labour comfortably held the seat vacated by David Miliband. Party sources had earlier suggested that they expected to poll in the “mid-40s” but in the event, Labour’s vote share fell by just 1.5 per cent to 50.5 per cent.
The real story of the night, however, was UKIP’s performance. The party finished second with 24 per cent of the vote, just four per cent short of its record performance in Eastleigh earlier this year. Given that it had no previous presence in the seat – it didn’t even stand a candidate in 2010 – and that the campaign lasted just 17 days, this is a remarkable achievement, confirming its status as the new protest party of choice in all regions.
It was another disastrous by-election result for the Lib Dems, who lost their deposit and finished seventh, behind UKIP, the Tories, an independent, the Socialist Party and the BNP. The party received just 352 votes, only 155 more than the Monster Raving Loony Party and a vote share of just 1.4 per cent – its worst by-election result since 1948.
Most of the county councils don’t begin counting until 8:30am tomorrow but early results suggest that Labour and UKIP will make significant gains, with the Tories suffering heavy losses.
Here’s the South Shields result in full
Emma Lewell-Buck (Lab) 12,493 (50.51%, -1.51%)
Richard Elvin (UKIP) 5,988 (24.21%)
Karen Allen (Con) 2,857 (11.55%, -10.04%)
Ahmed Khan (Ind) 1,331 (5.38%)
Phil Brown (Ind Soc) 750 (3.03%)
Lady Dorothy MacBeth Brookes (BNP) 711 (2.87%, -3.65%)
Hugh Annand (Lib Dem) 352 (1.42%, -12.79%)
Howling Laud Hope (Loony) 197 (0.80%)
Thomas Darwood (Ind) 57 (0.23%)
Labour majority 6,505 (26.30%)
Electorate 62,979; Turnout 24,736 (39.28%, -18.42%)
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