The only real drama of the night at the count for Middlesbrough and Thornaby East was a razor blade falling out of the cap of one of the candidates.

On the voting front Andy McDonald secured almost 50 per cent of the votes for the newly created constituency.

The veteran Labour politician had been the MP for Middlesbrough since 2012 and continued his winning streak.

However, it was the incident in the hour leading up to the result that brought the drama to the election.

Mark Baxtrem, the Independent candidate, accidentally dropped the razor blade out of his cap while he was watching the ballots being counted.

He was discreetly pulled to one side by the police and had the blade seized before he was allowed to go back into the counting hall.

Within an hour, Mr McDonald was elected as the MP for the seat.

Speaking after he was declared the winner, he said: “Thanks to the thousands of people who trusted me and voted for me.

“To them and to those who didn’t vote for me, I pledge myself to your service.

“It remains the honour of my life to represent my home town in the Houses of Parliament and it now it is an additional honour and privilege to serve the residents of Thornaby East.

“Tonight, it appears that Labour has won a historic victory. The party will form the next government with Keir Starmer as Prime Minister.

“The voters of this country have decided to turn the page on the Conservatives misrule and misguided policies and their sheer raw corruption.”

The full result: Mehmoona Ameen – Workers Party of Britain – 2,007; Mark Baxtrem – Independent – 383; Kiran Fothergill – Conservative – 6,174; Matthew Harris – Green Party – 1,522; Andy McDonald – Labour – 16,238; Patrick Seargeant – Reform UK – 7,046; Mo Wagas – Liberal Democrats – 1,037 The turnout was 45.92 per cent with 34,499 votes cast in the election.