Labour has won the Blackpool South by-election from the Conservatives in yet another blow for Rishi Sunak’s leadership.

The party’s candidate Chris Webb received 10,825 votes after Thursday’s contest – a 58.9% vote share – with the Tories trailing far behind with just 3,218.

Reform UK were hot on their heels, getting 3,101 votes, while the Liberal Democrats got 387 votes and the Green Party won 368.

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Local elections results as they come in

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer called it a “seismic” victory for his party and “the most important” amid a raft of local election results.

He added: “This is the one contest where voters had the chance to send a message to Rishi Sunak’s Conservatives directly, and that message is an overwhelming vote for change.”

Speaking to Sky News after his win was announced, Mr Webb said his priority in parliament would be the cost of living crisis, as it had “damaged so many people here in Blackpool South [and] people are struggling to make ends meet”.

The Commons’ newest MP said people were “fed up” and “want change”, adding: “Life-long Conservatives voted for me in this election and Labour because they want that change.

“So many people are crying out for a Labour government, Rishi Sunak need to admit he’s failed and call a general election.”

Blackpool South becomes the seventh seat the Conservative Party has lost to the Labour Party in this parliament – although the Tories won Hartlepool off Labour 2021.

Read more – local election results:
Labour pull off shock wins in Tory strongholds

The by-election was called after the former Conservative MP Scott Benton – who won the seat in 2019 with a slimmer majority of 3,690 – was caught in a sting by The Times newspaper, suggesting he was willing to break lobbying rules for money.

As a result, he was suspended from the Commons for 35 days, meaning he was subject to a recall petition in his constituency.

But instead of facing removal from his seat, Mr Benton resigned from parliament, triggering a vote for a new MP.

In an added painful twist for the Tories, the candidate standing to replace him, David Jones, was revealed as the chairman of the Fylde Conservatives – the area represented by the latest scandal hit MP Mark Menzies.

Mr Menzies hit the headlines after claims he misused campaign funds – including by calling a member of the local association to say he was locked in a flat by “bad people” and needed £5,000 as a matter of “life and death”.

Mr Jones denied he knew anything about the incident – which was allegedly reported to the Conservative Party three months ago – until it was revealed in the media.

Tory MP Ben Spencer said it was a “very disappointing” result, but “not entirely unexpected”.

He put the loss down to a lower turnout due to the scandal involving Mr Benton, telling Sky News: “Voters don’t like voting in a by-election. Why should they? And particularly one that’s been generated through a scandal.

“They’re going to be very annoyed and saying, ‘why do I have to vote again? Why is my Conservative MP gone?’

“And… of course, given that circumstance, it was always going to be a very, very uphill struggle.”

A party spokesperson also described the by-election as “a tough fight” that was “always going to be difficult… given the specific circumstances,” adding: “What has been clear is that a vote for Reform is a vote for Sir Keir Starmer – taking us right back to square one.”

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The by-election took place alongside local elections around England and Wales.

As results began to roll in, Labour took control of a number of local authorities where voters overwhelmingly backed Brexit in the 2016 referendum.

However, there are hundreds of seats still to be declared, along with 10 mayoralties and 37 police and crime commissioners, in the coming hours and days.

Follow our live coverage of the election results throughout the weekend – find the full details here.

Labour has won control of a string of Leave-voting councils as results begin to roll in from the local elections across England and Wales.

The party seized control of Rushmoor in Hampshire from the Conservatives shortly after 3am – a council the Tories had run for the last 24 years – with a spokesman calling the result “truly historic”.

Come 5am, they had also taken Redditch in the West Midlands, turning a Conservative majority of five into a Labour majority of 15.

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Follow the results as they come in

Labour also took Hartlepool Council – the scene of a major by-election loss back in 2021, which led Sir Keir Starmer to consider quitting as leader – and Thurrock in Essex, from no overall control, saying it was “exactly the kind of place we need to be winning to gain a majority in a general election”.

And the party replaced the Tories as the largest party on Peterborough Council which, while remaining under no overall control, saw the Conservatives lose 13 of the 16 seats they were defending.

Meanwhile, the Conservatives lost control of North East Lincolnshire after Labour won five of the seats up for grabs – with neither party now holding a majority on the council.

All six areas overwhelmingly voted Leave in the 2016 Brexit referendum, with Thurrock supporting it by 72.3%, North East Lincolnshire by 69.9%, Hartlepool by 69.6%, Redditch by 62.3%, Peterborough by 60.9% and Rushmoor by 58.2%.

However, Labour lost seats in some of its more traditional areas where there is a high Muslim population, such as Newcastle, with critics putting the failures down to the party’s positioning on the conflict in Gaza.

In other important developments:

• Labour held on to Sunderland Council
• It also kept control of South Tyneside, Chorley and Newcastle
• The Greens won a number of seats from Labour in Newcastle
• Carla Denyer, Green co-leader, said Labour lost support over Gaza
• The Tories held on to other councils in Hertfordshire, Hampshire and Essex

More than 2,600 council seats across 107 councils were up for grabs in England, alongside 11 mayoral elections, a parliamentary seat and police and crime commissioners throughout England and Wales – with many of the results still coming in.

But early signs show Labour is winning back seats in areas it lost over the Brexit debate, as well as making gains in traditionally Tory voting councils.

Read more:
Labour gains new MP with Blackpool by-election win

‘People crying out for change’ – Labour

Shadow environment secretary Steve Reed told Sky News that while it was “early days”, the results so far were showing positive signs for Labour come the next general election.

“These are not polls,” he said. “These are people getting off their backsides, going out of their homes, into a polling station, putting a cross on a party that they want to govern their local area.

“People are crying out for change. I know that from speaking to people on the doorsteps and tonight, it looks like people around the country are voting for change.”

But while Tory MP James Daly said he “fully accepts” the loss of these councils, he insisted to Sky News his party could “still win in parts of the country where historically Labour have dominated” – including in Teeside, where Conservative Lord Houchen is defending his mayoralty.

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Tories better some predictions but Lib Dems ‘buoyed’

The Conservatives bucked predictions in Harlow in Essex where it managed to keep control of the council – although its majority fell from 11 to one, and Labour gained five seats.

The party also held on to Broxbourne Council in Hertfordshire – an authority it has run for its entire 52-year history – and Fareham in Hampshire, though in the latter the Liberal Democrats picked up four seats.

A Lib Dem source said they were “buoyed” by their results overnight, claiming it set them up to take seats off the Tories at the next election.

“This is just a taster of what is to come throughout Friday in the Blue Wall,” they added.

Reform UK is performing well, racking up an average vote share of between 14% and 15%, and pushing the Conservatives into third place in some areas, including Sunderland.

However, it isn’t fielding candidates everywhere – instead targeting Leave seats where its predecessors, the Brexit Party and UKIP, performed well – and has yet to win a seat or council for itself.

Boris Johnson was turned away from his local polling station when trying to vote in the local elections after forgetting to bring an acceptable form of photo identification.

Sky News understands polling station staff were forced to send the former prime minister away after he initially failed to comply with legislation he introduced while he was in Downing Street.

Mr Johnson, who introduced the Elections Act requiring photo ID in 2022, was attempting to cast his ballot in South Oxfordshire, where a police and crime commissioner for the Thames Valley was being selected.

Follow live: Tories expecting to lose hundreds of seats in council contests

He posted on X on Thursday morning: “The polls are now open. Vote Conservative today!”

The Elections Act has proved controversial, with fears that it would prove a deterrent to voting, particularly among disadvantaged groups.

In 2023, the Electoral Commission warned the new law, which requires people to show acceptable forms of photo ID when voting in person, could exclude hundreds of thousands of people, including those with disabilities and from minority ethnic backgrounds.

The commission found that in local elections last May, 14,000 people were not able to vote because they did not have acceptable ID.

In England, passports, driving licences, blue badges and certain local travel cards are accepted forms of voter ID.

A spokesman for Mr Johnson did not deny he had failed to bring ID, saying only: “Mr Johnson voted Conservative.”

Meanwhile, the government has also said it plans to make veterans’ ID cards a valid form of voter identification after former service personnel were turned away from polling stations.

Veterans minister Johnny Mercer apologised to those who had been unable to use their veterans’ ID card to vote in the local elections, vowing to “do all I can” to have it added to the list of valid identification.

A Number 10 spokeswoman said: “It is our intention for the new Veteran Card, which was rolled out in January, to be added to the official list.”

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Mr Mercer’s apology came after Army veteran Adam Diver complained he had been turned away from his local polling station after presenting his Veteran Card.

Mr Diver, 48, had been looking to place his vote in Fleetwood, Lancashire, but was turned away after presenting his card, and described the experience as leaving him feeling “gutted”.

Labour said the government has had years to ensure the Veteran Card was included on the list of valid voter ID, having begun rolling out the cards in 2019.