Labour has taken back control of Middlesbrough Council after clawing back seats it lost four years ago.

The party saw a huge boost in its vote continuing a trend across the Tees Valley as it also became the biggest party in Hartlepool and Darlington.

Independents maintained a major role on the council but Labour will now have control. 

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Labour took 25 seats of the 46 available, with 15 being taken by independent candidates and four being won by the Tories.

The result is a big success for the Labour Party who lost control in Middlesbrough in 2019.

See the results using our interactive chart

Overnight Labour's Chris Cooke was elected as mayor, replacing independent Andy Preston by just 760 votes.

In 2019 Labour lost overall control of the council having gone into the vote with 31 seats and come out of it with just 20. It has now clawed back some of those lost seats

Since then, independents have had the majority on Middlesbrough Council.

Andy McDonald, MP for Middlesbrough, said: “This has been a fantastic result for Labour, but more importantly for Middlesbrough. With Chris Cooke as Mayor and a strong Labour-led Council, we can see a return to good governance and a stable, credible local authority. Middlesbrough needs a Council that works for them and that is what we will now have. 

Huge congratulations to all the elected councillors and my heartfelt thanks to all our candidates and supporters. It has been a privilege to be part of such a great campaign. Now let’s get on with the hard work to bring about the positive changes needed for Middlesbrough.” 

When Ben Houchen, the Conservative mayor for the Tees Valley, was first elected in 2017, all five council leaders in the area were Labour. But by the 2019 General Election no council was under overall Labour control.

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Voters headed to the polls across the Tees Valley on Thursday with every seat being contested on four councils – Darlington, Middlesbrough, Stockton and Redcar and Cleveland – and a third of the seats being contested in Hartlepool.

Results will be announced throughout the day on Friday (May 5).

More to follow.