The full scale of the Conservative wipeout at the General Election in County Durham and Darlington has been revealed.
Data shows the Tories likely won just one ward in the whole of County Durham - Barnard Castle West - by one vote over Labour.
The North Lodge ward, near Chester-le-Street, was won by the Liberal Democrats, it was claimed. Labour received the most votes in the other 61 electoral wards.
Figures from Britain Elects provide an insight into how voting in the North East was divided.
The Reform Party received the second highest number of votes in dozens of County Durham wards.
All six County Durham constituencies returned Labour MPs at the vote in May for the first time since 2017. Bishop Auckland, North West Durham, and Sedgefield all elected Conservative MPs in 2019.
In Darlington, the vote share was more evenly split despite Labour receiving the most votes.
The final results are similar to those seen at the local election in May 2023, with the borough’s rural suburbs voting Conservative and more central wards voting Labour. Of the 18 wards within the Darlington constituency, 12 voted Labour and six voted Conservative.
Labour MP Lola McEvoy defeated Conservative candidate Peter Gibson by 2,298 votes at the May election.
Lola McEvoy, Labour - 16,621
Peter Gibson, Conservative - 14,323
Michael Walker, Reform UK - 6,852
Matthew Snedker, Green Party - 2,847
Simon Thorley, Liberal Democrat - 1,735
The voting system used to elect MPs is called First Past the Post. Once all votes are counted across all wards the candidate with the most votes wins.
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