Labour Win South Shields By-Election

3 May 2013, 06:19 | Updated: 30 March 2016, 13:50

Labour candidate Emma Lewell-Buck has been named as the new MP of South Shields, replacing David Miliband after he stepped down.

Labour have won the South Shields by-election, holding onto a parliamentary seat they have held since 1935.

Emma Lewell-Buck's the first woman MP in South Shields with 12,493 votes.

Labour's majority was reduced in Thursday's poll as the UK Independence Party finished a clear second, with a 24% share of the total vote.

The Conservatives were pushed into third while their Liberal Democrat coalition partners finished seventh.

UKIP also made gains in county council elections in England.

The Labour candidate Emma Lewell-Buck said:
"I am absolutely ecstatic. This result shows Labour is connecting with voters.

This Government is starting to get a dose of the reality facing hard-pressed families here in Shields and across the country.

It's time David Cameron started to listen."

She's also tweeted since her victory

Emma Lewell-Buck tweet

The UKIP candidate Richard Elvin came second with 5,988 votes (full result below).

They took 24% of the total votes - only 4% lower than their record 28% of the votes cast in the by-election in Eastleigh in March.

The party didn't have a candidate standing in South Shields at the last general election.

South Shields Result

Emma Lewell-Buck (Labour) - 12,493 votes
Richard Elvin (UK Independence Party) - 5,988 votes
Karen Allen (Conservatives) 2,857 votes
Ahmed Khan (Independent) 1,331 votes
Phil Brown (Independent Socialist Party) 750 votes
Lady Dorothy Macbeth Brookes (BNP) 711 votes
Hugh Annand (Liberal Democrats) 352 votes
Howling Laud Hope (The Official Monster Raving Loony Party) 197 votes
Thomas Faithful Darwood (Independent) 57 votes