THE dust is settling on the aftermath of the shock election result in one seat.

The closure of the Corus Teesside Cast Products (TCP) plant delivered a fatal blow to Vera Baird’s hopes of holding on to her Redcar seat.

Liberal Democrat Ian Swales swept to victory with a massive 6,000 vote majority – overturning Labour’s 12,000 majority.

Ms Baird defiantly said she does not intend to turn her back on the town and will continue her fight to try to save jobs at the Corus plant.

Mr Swales believes the victory has shown that the people of Teesside are fed up with Labour.

He said: “This is a great result.

We have worked very hard to win this seat and it has been a hard fight. There is no denying that the closure of TCP has had an effect on the vote, but that is not the only reason. We were surprised by the size of the majority. We were expecting a really close fight, but now the work really starts.

“The Labour Party has let the area down. We always intended to challenge strongly, and this result has shown we are the party of choice in Redcar.

“Many people are sick of the Punch and Judy politics of the other two parties and they are seeing the Lib Dems as a serious alternative.

“If Redcar can vote us in, there is nowhere in the region where we should not be able to compete.”

Ms Baird, who was Solicitor General in the last government, was magnanimous in defeat, but said she would not leave the area.

She said: “Obviously, I am very disappointed with the result, but there is still work to be done in Redcar. I do not think there is anything else that I could have done in this campaign – the closure of TCP has had a massive effect on the votes.

“I am passionate about Redcar and it has been a great honour to represent this town for nine years. I can assure people that I will not be turning my back on the town and will continue to work with Corus to try to secure a buyer for the plant.

“I have loved my time in Redcar – I have put my body and soul into the area.”

The deposed Labour candidate received some welcome support from Geoff Waterfield, the TCP plant’s multiunion chairman. He said: “Vera has spent an inordinate amount of her time on TCP when other candidates were preparing for campaigns.

“She stood with us knowing full well she would feel the backlash in the election.

“She got us to the Prime Minister quickly; regional minister Nick Brown within days. She didn’t mess about.

We saw them and Peter Mandelson in a very quick time.

People forget that and it is a real shame.

“What a lot of people in Redcar and the region won’t realise is how much work Vera has put in to support the steelworks. If we get to the point of a buyer, that is through the hard work she has done from the beginning.

“She did an awful lot of things she could not tell people about because it was confidential.

“Vera has taken a lot of flak that is not justified. We will always be grateful to her for the work she has put in.”

Councillor George Dunning, the Labour leader of Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council, said: “It is a huge shock to us in the Redcar constituency. This has been very difficult for Vera, but the closure of the steelworks has had a devastating impact on her campaign.”