BARRISTER Vera Baird has been elected as Redcar's new MP, while Ashok Kumar retained his Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland seat in the General Election.

Ms Baird, greeted by loud cheers, entered the Redcar Bowl on Thursday night preparing to step into the giant shoes of Mo Mowlam. The result, which came just after 2am, came as no real surprise, but both the majority and the turn out was greatly reduced.

At the 1997 election, 73.12 per cent of the electorate turned out to vote. This election brought a turn out of just over 57 per cent.

Ms Baird lost almost 10,000 votes on her predecessor, leading to a decrease on the safe Labour seat's majority from 21,667 to 13,443.

The Conservatives lost 1,725 votes while the Liberal Democrats gained more than 860 votes.

Ms Baird, who revealed she had put a bid in on a house in Redcar earlier in the day, thanked everyone who has supported her and paid tribute to Dr Mowlam.

"I have ambitions for Redcar," she said. "It is about new jobs and prosperity. The people here have a proud history. Labour has made a great start but there is still a lot to do. You have yourself a champion and I will not let you down."

Chris Main for the Conservatives, Stan Wilson for the Liberal Democrats and Socialist Labour candidate John Taylor wished Ms Baird well in her new career.

The build-up to the Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland vote was hotly contested because it has always been a marginal seat.

High ranking politicians of both the major parties had been in the constituency over the four weeks of the campaign trail, showing their support for Labour's Dr Kumar and Conservative candidate Barbara Harpham.

The seat has swung both ways over the last ten years, but was won by Dr Kumar with a majority of 10,607 at the last election. Although the turn out was down - just over 60 per cent from 75.53 per cent in 1997 - the swing was slightly in Dr Kumar's favour. Even so, his majority was reduced to 8,351.

He said: "I intend to carry on in the same way as the last four years, fighting for better services. I intend to be a champion for the people who have elected me. This is the first time in history we have got a second term for Labour and I am honoured to be re-elected."

The Conservatives lost 3,742 votes, while the Liberal Democrats' candidate, Nunthorpe businesswoman Linda Parrish, gained 700 votes for her party.

Ms Harpham said she was disappointed not to have won: "We gave it our best go and at the end of the day, that is all you can do."

She said that life would go on as usual for her, which meant returning to her role as leader of the Conservative party for Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council.