Andy Burnham wins Greater Manchester mayoral election after huge embarrassment for Jeremy Corbyn as Tories win Tees Valley and West Midlands
The Conservatives also took the mayoralty of the West Midlands in disastrous day for Labour leader
ANDY Burnham celebrates with a thumbs up after being voted the first mayor of Greater Manchester - on a disastrous day of local election results for Labour that left Jeremy Corbyn humiliated.
The former Cabinet minister - who was second to Mr Corbyn in the Labour leadership contest two years ago - laughed and hugged family and supporters after his victory was confirmed this evening.
It was one of the few successes on an agonising day for as the party lost almost 400 council seats - a taste of the mauling many MPs expect in the general election next month.
Mr Corbyn's pal Steve Rotheram was elected metro mayor in Liverpool this afternoon.
But Tory candidate Ben Houchen pulled off a stunner to take the mayoralty in traditional Labour stronghold the Tees Valley, a result he he described as a "political earthquake".
And ex-John Lewis boss Andy Street scored another win for the Conservatives, narrowly beating Labour's Sion Simon in the race to be metro mayor of the West Midlands.
The Tories also won the West of England mayoralty as they also took control of 11 authorities in England and Wales and gained an astonishing 562 council seats across the UK - including huge gains in Scotland.
Local councillor Ben Houchen the Mayoral contest in Tees Valley
Mr Rotheram secured 59 per cent of the vote in Liverpool - solid Labour territory - and now will not run again as MP in Walton.
Liverpudlian Mr Burnham, who got 63 per cent in the contest in Manchester, joked the score was "Manchester one, Liverpool Nil".
The Labour leader was set to visit his friend Mr Rotheram in Liverpool this evening - as the party faced drastic losses across Britain in today's council elections.
Mr Rotheram said he would put the Liverpool brand on the map as Britain prepared to quit the EU in 2019.
"And as your metro mayor, I will seek to address the North-South divide," he added.
The current Labour mayor of Doncaster, Ros Jones, held on to her seat overnight with an improved result.
But the new West of England metro mayor is Tory Tim Bowles.
And the Conservative James Palmer also won the race to be the first regional mayor for Cambridgeshire.
MOST READ IN POLITICS
Labour sources told The Sun they could see a huge shift of blue-collar workers to the Tories which could return Andy Street to the West Midlands.
Days ago they predicted there was even a chance the Tories could win the Mayoral contest in Tees Valley – which includes Darlington, Redcar and Middlesbrough.
One Tory campaigning in the North-East admitted: “I’ve never known a reaction on the doorstep like it. We really do have a chance.”
And it seems their campaigning paid off as he was elected to serve the seat.
Across the country today Ukip's vote collapsed, as the Tories surged.
Theresa May's party took over hundreds of seats, while Labour have lost many more than predicted.
North of the border, the picture was very much the same - as the SNP faced a bashing from the Tories while Labour lost control of Glasgow Council for the first time in 40 years.