Labour holds North Tyneside mayor but vote halves as Reform come close

Labour has held on to the mayoralty of North Tyneside, in a close-fought race against Reform which saw Labour secure less than half the votes it won four years ago.

Karen Clark, standing to replace the outgoing Labour mayor, won 16,230 votes, to Reform’s 15,786. The “Local Conservatives” candidate secured 11,017 votes, with the Greens fourth and Lib Dems fifth.

While Labour’s numerical vote tally was less than half of its 2021 result, lower turnout meant its vote share loss was lower but still significant – falling from 53.4% to 30.2%.

A Labour source said: “This was far from a given, the incumbent didn’t stand, and this area voted for a Conservative mayor in three separate elections under the last Labour government.”

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In 2021, outgoing mayor Norma Redfearn had won 33,119 votes, with the Tories second on 19,366 and UKIP just 1,753.

It marks one of the first results declared in the 2025 local elections.

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It comes after the first drip of council results early on Friday looked alarming for both the Conservatives and Labour, with Labour losing 12 seats in Northumberland.

The announcement of a recount in Runcorn and Helsby at around 4am appeared to mark another early setback, pointing to a knife-edge result in what should be one of the party’s safest seats – albeit one Labour was tipped to lose by bookmakers.

But the first three major sets of results fully declared all saw Labour edge tight victories to hold on, with Reform finishing second in all three. 

READ MORE: Council by council Labour gains and losses – and its position in each mayor race

In Doncaster, Labour’s Ros Jones was re-elected for a fourth time, but only by around 700 votes to Reform. 

In the West of England, Labour’s Helen Godwin secured a majority of less than 6,000 votes over Arron Banks, with 25% of the vote to Reform’s 22.1%, It marked an unusual four-way contest, with the Greens third on 20% and Tories on 16.6%.

Read more on the 2025 local elections:

Analysis and what to expect

• Expert predicts ‘bad night’ with no net Labour gains 
• What’s a good night for Labour?
• ‘Uxbridgitis: If election results are grim, let’s not learn the wrong lessons again’
• Where’s Keir? PM barely features in Labour party election broadcasts for the locals
• The meme elections: Labour’s social media pivot to take fight to Farage

LabourList’s on-the-ground reports from the campaign

• Hull and East Yorkshire: Labour candidate spars with Reform’s boxing star in UK’s most disillusioned city
• Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Nik Johnson on why he’s standing down and Anna Smith on knife-edge Labour-Tory fight to replace him
• West of England: Tory and Green threats, Dan Norris and low voter awareness
• Lancashire: Long shadow of Gaza looms over key battleground

Inside the Runcorn campaign

• Mood on the doorstep: Labour’s last push for Tory voters to keep out Reform
• At least 150 Labour MPs visit – but Keir Starmer ain’t one
• Karen Shore interview: Labour candidate on Reform, the NHS and closing asylum hotels
• Runcorn poll: One in ten Labour voters expected to back Reform

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