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Election results: Labour holds on to Sunderland Election results: Labour wins North of Tyne mayor but loses votes elsewhere
(about 7 hours later)
Labour has held on to Sunderland Council, though its share of the vote has gone down sharply. Labour has won the North of Tyne Mayor election and held on to Sunderland Council, though its share of the vote has gone down sharply.
UKIP, the Lib Dems and Greens all gained their first seats on the council and the Conservatives also took seats at Labour's expense, which lost 12. UKIP, the Lib Dems and Greens all gained their first seats on the council and the Conservatives also took seats at Labour's expense.
The council's leader blamed its losses on Labour MPs supporting a fresh vote on Brexit. Council leader Graeme Miller blamed the loss of 12 seats since 2015 on Labour MPs supporting a fresh vote on Brexit.
Councillor Graeme Miller said: "We've seen a massive voter protest on that issue." Labour's Jamie Driscoll won 33.9% of the mayoral votes.
Mr Driscoll, who will head the newly formed North of Tyne Combined Authority, said: "This victory on the North of Tyne is a verdict on positive campaigning on clear socialist policies.
"The Tory party has been rejected, not simply for fumbling the Brexit negotiations."
He added it was a verdict "on a derelict government".
In Sunderland, Mr Miller said he had seen a "massive voter protest" over Brexit.
He added: "Sunderland voted as a city to leave and having had a message from MPs saying we have to have a people's vote and a second referendum, people are saying we are not just accepting that in the Labour party.He added: "Sunderland voted as a city to leave and having had a message from MPs saying we have to have a people's vote and a second referendum, people are saying we are not just accepting that in the Labour party.
"I have lost councillors tonight because of this - the Brexit message has stepped into local politics and that is the outcome."I have lost councillors tonight because of this - the Brexit message has stepped into local politics and that is the outcome.
"Hopefully the party will learn from it and will not make that mistake again.""Hopefully the party will learn from it and will not make that mistake again."
However, Bridget Phillipson, Labour MP for Houghton and Sunderland South, tweeted: "Losses to different parties across city tells us this isn't a simple Brexit story."However, Bridget Phillipson, Labour MP for Houghton and Sunderland South, tweeted: "Losses to different parties across city tells us this isn't a simple Brexit story."
Labour also lost five seats in South Tyneside and two in Newcastle, as it held on to both councils.Labour also lost five seats in South Tyneside and two in Newcastle, as it held on to both councils.
It also held on to North Tyneside, where it lost one seat to the Conservatives.It also held on to North Tyneside, where it lost one seat to the Conservatives.
Analysis
By BBC North East and Cumbria political editor Richard Moss
Labour had a lot to lose in the North East and Cumbria. It is the party that dominates its town halls - but it took some heavy hits overnight.
Sunderland's voters delivered the early blows - 12 councillors gone.
Then Hartlepool was lost, Allerdale losses hit double figures and, to add insult to injury, there was a by-election defeat in a usually reliable part of County Durham.
And the party's problems in northern Mayoral races continue as their candidates trailed in a distant second to Independents in Middlesbrough and Copeland.
Local leaders were quick to point to Brexit confusion. But that just highlights the party's dilemma. While their leader in Sunderland claims flirting with a new referendum cost him councillors, Newcastle's Labour leader says a failure to fully back one backfired.
And it just seems voters wanted anyone but Labour in some places. How else to explain gains for UKIP, Greens, Lib Dems, Independents and Conservatives?
As the Establishment in the region, perhaps some sort of kicking for Labour was inevitable. But do not discount local factors.
It may be convenient - and partly justified - for council leaders to blame events in Westminster, but anyone who has talked to voters in the region will know that some Labour regimes here are far from loved.
Either search using your postcode or council name or click around the map to show local results.Either search using your postcode or council name or click around the map to show local results.