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Stoke and Copeland by-elections: Labour holds Stoke Tories win Copeland by-election as Labour holds Stoke
(35 minutes later)
Labour has held Stoke-on-Trent Central in a Parliamentary by-election, seeing off a challenge from UKIP. The Conservatives have won the Copeland by-election - beating Labour in a seat it has held since its creation.
Gareth Snell was elected with 7,853 votes ahead of UKIP leader Paul Nuttall on 5,233 votes. Conservative Trudy Harrison won with 13,748 votes to Labour Gill Troughton's 11,601.
Votes continue to be counted in Copeland, where the Conservative Party is hoping for the first by-election gain by a governing party since 1982. Ms Harrison hailed the victory - the first by-election gain by a governing party since 1982 - as "a truly historic event".
Labour has held both seats since their creation. The by-elections were sparked by the resignations of two MPs. Meanwhile Labour held Stoke-on-Trent Central, seeing off a challenge from UKIP leader Paul Nuttall.
'Hope over fear' Gareth Snell was elected with 7,853 votes, ahead of UKIP's 5,233 votes.
Brexit battle
Labour had held both seats since their creation. The by-elections were sparked by the resignations of two former Labour frontbenchers, Tristram Hunt and Jamie Reed.
In Copeland, Labour's majority was just 2,564 but it is unusual for an opposition party to lose a seat to the governing party in a by-election.
Professor John Curtice, of Strathclyde University, said the Copeland result was the best by-election performance by a governing party in terms of the increase in its share of the vote since January 1966.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said the party's "message was not enough to win through in Copeland" but hailed victory in Stoke as a "decisive rejection of Ukip's politics of division and dishonesty".
He added: "Labour will go further to reconnect with voters and break with the failed political consensus."
In Stoke-on-Trent, UKIP had hoped to capitalise on voters' leanings towards Brexit - the area voted strongly to leave the EU in June.In Stoke-on-Trent, UKIP had hoped to capitalise on voters' leanings towards Brexit - the area voted strongly to leave the EU in June.
But in his victory speech, Mr Snell said voters had "chosen the politics of hope over the politics of fear".But in his victory speech, Mr Snell said voters had "chosen the politics of hope over the politics of fear".
"This city will not allow ourselves to be defined by last year's referendum and we will not allow ourselves to be divided by the result," he said."This city will not allow ourselves to be defined by last year's referendum and we will not allow ourselves to be divided by the result," he said.
He said the result was "a victory for the whole Labour Party and Labour movement".
But Labour's share of the vote was 37% - slightly down on the 39.3% it got in 2015.
'More to come'
UKIP got 24.7% of the vote and the Conservatives 24.4% - both slightly higher than their 2015 vote shares.
The Conservative candidate, Jack Brereton, came third with 5,154 votes.
Speaking to journalists after the result, Mr Nuttall said UKIP was "not going anywhere" and insisted the party's "time would come".
"There's a lot more to come from us," he said.
"We are not going anywhere, I'm not going anywhere."
Stoke-on-Trent Central results in fullStoke-on-Trent Central results in full
Gareth Snell, Labour 7,853Gareth Snell, Labour 7,853
Paul Nuttall, UKIP 5,233Paul Nuttall, UKIP 5,233
Jack Brereton, Conservative 5,154Jack Brereton, Conservative 5,154
Zulfiqar Ali Lib Dems, 2,083Zulfiqar Ali Lib Dems, 2,083
Adam Colclough, Greens, 294Adam Colclough, Greens, 294
Barbara Fielding, Independent, 137Barbara Fielding, Independent, 137
The Incredible Flying Brick, Official Monster Raving Loony Party, 127The Incredible Flying Brick, Official Monster Raving Loony Party, 127
David Furness, British National Party Local People First, 124David Furness, British National Party Local People First, 124
Godfrey Davies Christian People's Alliance, 109Godfrey Davies Christian People's Alliance, 109
Mohammed Akram, Independent, 56Mohammed Akram, Independent, 56
He said the result was "a victory for the whole Labour Party and Labour movement".
But Labour's share of the vote was 37% - slightly down on the 39.3% it got in 2015.
UKIP got 24.7% of the vote and the Conservatives 24.4% - both slightly higher than their 2015 vote shares.
The Conservative candidate, Jack Brereton, came third with 5,154 votes.
Speaking to journalists after the result, Mr Nuttall said UKIP was "not going anywhere" and insisted the party's "time would come".
"There's a lot more to come from us," he said.
"We are not going anywhere, I'm not going anywhere."
Voter turnout was low in Stoke at 38% but 51.35% in the west Cumbrian seat of Copeland.Voter turnout was low in Stoke at 38% but 51.35% in the west Cumbrian seat of Copeland.
Polling day coincided with Storm Doris hitting the country with heavy rain and strong winds.Polling day coincided with Storm Doris hitting the country with heavy rain and strong winds.
Speaking before the result was announced, UKIP's sole MP Douglas Carswell told BBC One's Question Time: "Stoke is not even within our top 50 target seats.
"It's been a Labour-voting constituency since 1950, if we were to win it would be such an earthquake it would be akin to the great Spen Valley by-election of 1919 which marked the demise of the old Liberal Party."
Labour's majority in Stoke has been decreasing in recent years, from 19,924 in 1997 to 5,179 in 2015.
Both Mr Snell and Mr Nuttall had tough moments during their campaigns, with Mr Snell apologising over old social media posts about women appearing on television and Mr Nuttall facing a backlash over false claims he lost close friends in the Hillsborough tragedy.
Labour is defending a 2,564 majority in the west Cumbrian seat of Copeland.
Mr Reed, who had been an MP since 2005, resigned to take a job in the nuclear industry. With thousands of people employed in the sector, nuclear power has been a key campaign theme along with warnings about local NHS cuts.
Labour has Gill Troughton as its candidate, a councillor and former doctor and ambulance driver, who is up against Conservative Trudy Harrison, who lives in the village of Bootle and was a parish councillor for a number of years.