Nailbiter as Reform by

SOUTH BANK BY-ELECTION GOES DOWN TO THE WIRE

- By DANIEL HODGSON Local democracy reporter

LABOUR has narrowly won the South Bank by-election. Claiming victory over Reform by a margin of just 24 votes, the local party can breathe a sigh of relief as they have avoided what would have been a bruising, although not entirely unexpected, defeat.

Sue Jeffrey, now once again Councillor Jeffrey, returns to the frontline of local politics, having not contested the seat in the 2023 local elections, after holding it for 14 years since 2009.

Ahead of the result being announced, as the old cliche goes, the tension was so thick, you could cut it with a knife.

But on this cold Thursday night, it really was so tense in Redcar and Cleveland's Civic Centre, with palpable stress etched on the faces of some Labour politicians in particular.

The most relaxed faces in the room were those of Conservatives - they knew they weren't going to win, but they had brought a strong contingent of councillors to support their candidate and spoke positively about their result.

Reform, meanwhile, emphasised the sheer people power that Labour had needed to use during the campaign. In terms of a ground game, the incumbent party had certainly thrown the kitchen sink at this election, but it was all worth it in the end.

After a verification process that confirmed what most people expected - a near dead heat between Labour and Reform (with whispers of Labour edging it) - the count itself was a nerve racking wait, although not a particularly long one.

Even though polling stations only closed at 10pm, the ballot boxes arrived at the count in good time, and the result was announced before 11.15pm.