Votes are now being counted following local elections across the region on Thursday.
Local elections were held in Redcar and Cleveland, Middlesbrough, Stockton, Hartlepool and Darlington. Each council will be re-electing all of its councillors. In Middlesbrough, Labour's Chris Cooke has been elected as new mayor after narrowly defeating Andy Preston.
Middlesbrough counted the ballots for the mayoral race overnight, after the polls closed at 10pm. Counts for Redcar, Stockton and Middlesbrough council seats start on Friday morning and the results should come in throughout the day.
Labour will be keen to take back council seats lost in 2019 to put them in a strong position ahead of the general election next year. However, getting in their way will be a raft of Conservatives, Independents, Green Party candidates, Reform UK members and Liberal Democrats.
Follow below for the latest updates
Key Events
Full Longbeck results
Full results
Luke Myer (Lab) : 707
Stephen Crane (Ind) : 246
Vera Rider (Ind) : 413
Andrea Turner (Con) : 409
Vic Jeffries (Ind) : 342
Steve Turner (Con) : 293
Luke Myer (Labour and Co-operative Party) & Vera Rider (Independent, 413 votes) take the two seats in Longbeck ward.
Vera Rider beat Andrea Turner by just four votes and was in tears afterwards.
Luke Myer 'delighted'
Labour's Luke Myer, the clear winner, had to wait over the Bank Holiday weekend.
Longbeck ward result
The result is in.
Luke Myer (Labour) and Vera Rider (Ind) are elected.
Andrea Turner (Con) missed out by 4 votes.
Longbeck recount
A third recount is now underway for the Longbeck ward in Redcar and Cleveland.
The ward is where Cleveland Police and Crime Commissioner Steve Turner was hoping to win a seat for the Tories alongside wife Andrea. A recount took place, but with the results closer than before, returning officer John Sampson said they would come back again on Tuesday morning next week to get a “fresh pair of eyes on it”.
You can see the full results from Redcar and Cleveland HERE
Kirkleatham - Redcar and Cleveland
Elected councillors
Alec Brown (LAB) 559
Peter Grogan (CON) 596
Marian Fairley (LAB) 527
Longbeck delayed
Still no definitive result in Longbeck ward - this after a recount. Coming back on Tuesday morning to get a fresh pair of eyes on it, according to Redcar and Cleveland Council's returning officer!
West Dyke - Redcar and Cleveland
Ashleigh Atkinson (LAB) 444
Karen Charlton (CON) 342
Michael Dixon (LAB) 439
Neil Dooley (LAB) 407
Malcolm Head (LIB) 691
Chris Jones (LIB) 705
Mark Maddison (CON) 333
Mary Ovens (LIB) 695
Jacob Phillips (CON) 349
Head, Jones & Ovens wins
St Germain's - Redcar and Cleveland
Jennifer Estensen (CON) 308
Kendra Evans (LIB) 819
Peter Finlinson (LIB) 561
Graeme Iceton (CON) 281
Karen King (LIB) 1,270
Tristan Learoyd (LIB) 1,275
Peter Mahan (LAB) 412
Nicola Riley (CON) 353
The three seats taken by the Lib Dems
Wheatlands - Redcar and Cleveland
Niall Hargreaves (CON) 448
Yvonne Lax-Keeler (LIB) 363
Shaun Moody (LIB) 336
Steve Peacock (IND) 80
Daniel Sillett (LAB) 265
Jack Symon (CON) 399
Dave Wimble (LAB) 261
Niall Hargreaves and Jack Symon elected for the Tories
Saltburn - Redcar and Cleveland
The three existing councillors retain their seats.
Stuart Smith (IND) 1,385
Philip Thomson (IND) 1,041
Craig Hannaway (IND) 805
Normanby - Redcar and Cleveland
Billy Ayre (LAB) 694
Chris Gallacher (IND) 250
Paul Garland (LAB) 642
Paul McInnes (CON) 758
Simon Meech-Simpson (LAB) 564
Curt Pugh (CON) 712
Rita Richardson (IND) 421
Paul Salvin (CON) 789
Stuart Saunders (LIB) 93
Wins for McInnes, Pugh & Salvin
All done in Stockton - for today
That's it, for today at least in Stockton.
The Conservatives are currently the largest party on the council with 23 seats, Labour with 22.
Three seats in Hartburn are yet to be determined in June, so either party could still end up the largest group on the council.
Hutton - Redcar and Cleveland
Again large number of candidates for a single tweet.
So the three seats available have been taken by
Jemma Louise Scarlett Joy (LIB) 1,030
Julie Hart (CON) 846
Graham Jeffery (LIB) 812
Brotton - Redcar and Cleveland
Graham Cutler (IND) 882
Martin Fletcher (IND) 776
Lynne Henderson (CON) 244
Stephanie Hinson (CON) 160
Barry Hunt (IND) 820
Alison Suthers (LAB) 224
Ian Urwin (LAB) 306
Cutler, Fletcher and Hunt retain their seats
Ingleby Barwick North - Stockton
Final result in Stockton. Three seats, turnout 29%
Patricia Faulks (IBIS) - 824
Jason Foreman (IBIS) - 681
Angela French - 57
Stephen Harland (Green) - 333
Jean Kirby (IBIS) - 583
Jennifer Rutland (Con) - 650
Edward Strike (Ind) - 848
Alan Watson (Con) - 827
Sally Ann Watson (Con) - 874
Elizabeth Wood (Lab) - 658
Conservative and Independents HOLD these three seats. They previously held seats in Ingleby Barwick East. Alan Watson won over IBIS candidate Patricia Faulks by three votes.
Ormesby - Redcar and Cleveland
Julie Elders (CON) 216
Ian Hart (LIB) 865
Carole Anne Morgan (LIB) 914
Glyn Nightingale (LIB) 852
Cameron Norrie (LAB) 259
Leanne Reed (LAB) 270
Garth Siner (CON) 177
Katherine Smith (CON) 194
Millie Wood (LAB) 250
All three seats taken by Lib Dems.
Eston - Redcar and Cleveland
Sophie Christa Lax-Keeler (LIB) 171
Stephen James Martin (CON) 636
Christopher Massey (LAB) 561
Daniel Aaron Rees (LAB) 555
David Taylor (CON) 632
Geraldine Williams (LAB) 554.
Martin, Massey & Taylor elected. Tories take two seats from Labour
'Disappointed with some of the results'
Labour group leader Bob Cook said: “Disappointed with some of the results but we’re just two shy of what we were before. Disappointed with losing Ropner Ward obviously. We took Mandale so we’ve got 22.
“We always knew that a lot of the wards were untested because of the boundary review therefore it’s hard to try and predict what the results were going to be. “We’ll know we to work on for next time to try to regain that majority on the council.”
Teesville - Redcar and Cleveland
Can't fit it all the candidates in a single tweet! The three seats have been taken by
Peter Chaney (LAB) 597
Robert Clark (LAB) 576
Margaret O'Donoghue (LAB) 457.
Independents Vincent Smith and David Fisher out
Ingleby Barwick South amendment
The returning officer has just announced a new result for Ingleby Barwick South - the Conservative candidate James Irwin got 1,017 votes, not 317 as previously declared. This is due to a "procedural error" and it does not alter the final result.
The make-up of Middlesbrough Council
The 46 councillors in Middlesbrough will be made up of:
Labour 25 (+4)
Independent 15 (-7)
Conservative 4 (+1)
Liberal Democrat 2 (+2)
Labour's Chris Cooke will lead as mayor.
Difficult day for the Independents, Labour and Lib Dems both feeling like this is the start of something more.
Conservative gains in Stockton
It seems no party will be able to gain sole control of the council with an overall majority. There are six seats remaining - three in Ingleby Barwick North with result expected today, three in Hartburn with a poll in June.
Even if one group gained all six seats, they would not have the 29 seats needed for an overall majority.
The Conservatives have made gains, improving on the 16 seats they had before, while Labour currently have two less than their previous 22 seats. The Thornaby Independent Association has lost two while the Ingleby Barwick Independent Society has kept its three.
Labour gain control of Middlesbrough Council
With all results in, Middlesbrough switches from no overall control to Labour.
This follows on from Chris Cooke's victory in the mayoral race.
Ingleby Barwick South - Stockton
Three seats, turnout 34.68%
Michael Barnes (IBIS) - 1,174
Erica Clough - 54
Stuart Davies (Con) - 880
Anthony Ellison (Reform UK) - 124
Kevin Faulks (IBIS) - 1,203
Michelle Fryer (Con) - 935
David Hobson (Green) - 361
James Irwin (Con) - 317
Zoe Mathers (Ind) - 262
Kevin Nicholas (Lab) - 648
Ross Patterson (IBIS) - 1,111
Michael Williamson - 36
Ross Patterson and Kevin Faulks kept their seats, previously of Ingleby Barwick West
Skelton East - Redcar and Cleveland
But the Conservatives gain the two seats in Skelton East
Dave Barker (IND) 153
Darren Robert Craig (IND) 229
Tracy Jacobs (LIB) 29
Norman Macleod (LAB) 289
Andy Oliver (CON) 419
Sam Pratt (LAB) 315
Justin Thompson (CON) 369
Control of Stockton Council may be determined in June
There are only two wards left to announce - Ingleby Barwick North and Ingleby Barwick South, with three seats in each. It appears neither party can gain an overall majority with the remaining seats.
So it appears the control of the council may be determined with the Hartburn poll in June.
Skelton West - Redcar and Cleveland
Julie Craig (IND) 180
Ursula Mary Earl (LAB) 542
Peter Craig Holmes (CON) 470
Lee Bryan Holmes (CON) 384
John McCue (LAB) 480
Katy Primrose Sykes (LIB) 16
Emma Louise Marshall (IND) 78
Jonathan Thompson (LIB) 12.
Earl & McCue Labour win
Biggest cheer of the day so far at the Redcar and Cleveland Council election count as Labour ousts the two sitting Tories (Craig & brother Lee Holmes) in Skelton West. A blow for the Conservatives and also Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland MP Simon Clarke
Longlands and Beechwood - Middlesbrough
Jacqueline Fovargue (IND) – 350
Peter Gavigan (LAB) 572
Amjad Hossain (IND) 200
Nana Livingstone (LD) 79
Joan McTigue (IND) 563
Mary Nugent (LAB) 647
Sharon Sewell (LAB) 491
Stephen Smith (CON) 156
Nathaniel James Tumilty (CON) 163
Labour hold two seats and Independents hold one. Turnout 20.6%
Newport - Middlesbrough
Barrie Cooper (IND) 326
Jill Ewan (LAB) 911
John Baptist Kabuye (LAB) 919
Dinesh Maddula (LD) 115
Joyce Pugh (CON) 174
David Francis Revett (GRN) 180
Anne Romaine (LAB) 856
Turnout 21.8%
