THE CONSERVATIVES cleaned up in the Northumberland County Council elections as they reached a majority by claiming 34 of the of the 67 seats.

Following on from their dominance in the General Election of 2019, they again flexed their muscles to regain control at County Hall.

Elsewhere in the North-East, the Tories again caused a huge shock as Jill Mortimer became MP of Hartlepool after overturning a Labour majority of 3,600 in last night's by-election, ending Labour's 50-year spell in the seat.

In a further crushing blow for Labour, the Northumberland branch of the party will need to elect a new leader after Susan Dungworth lost her seat in dramatic fashion.

Her Hartley seat was decided by a ballot box draw after she and David Ferguson returned the exact same number of votes with 868, the seat declared as her Tory opponent after his name was pulled out of the box.

It was one of two ballot box draws on the night with Berwick West with Ord going to Liberal Democrat Elizabeth Hunter after she and Tory Gregah Rutherford, a member of the council's cabinet, had 409 votes each.

There was some Labour gain in Tynedale, however, with the party reclaiming its seat in Prudhoe North after losing it to Conservative Ken Stow four years ago.

Coun. Stow was replaced as the Tory candidate by current town mayor Tracy Gilmore, but she lost out to Labour representative Angie Scott.

Labour also claimed the Bywell ward as Holly Waddell was elected ahead of new Tory candidate Stephen Westgarth who had hoped to keep the seat blue as Karen Quinn stepped aside.

The only other change within Tynedale saw the Green Party claim the Humshaugh seat from the Tories as Nick Morphet usurped Rupert Gibson to help his party to two seats in Northumberland.

It is as you were elsewhere in west Northumberland, with Tories John Riddle (Bellingham), Nick Oliver (Corbridge), Ian Hutchinson (Haltwhistle), Trevor Cessford (Hexham Central with Acomb), Cath Homer (Hexham East), Gordon Stewart (Prudhoe South) and Colin Horncastle (South Tynedale) retaining their seats.

Lib Dem Alan Sharp (Haydon with Hadrian) and indpedents Derek Kennedy (Hexham West) and Anne Dale (Stocksfield and Broomhaugh) were re-elected too.

The Tories kept their seats in Ponteland with former council leader Peter Jackson (Ponteland South with Heddon), Richard Dodd (Ponteland North), Veronica Jones (Ponteland West) and Lyle Darwin (Ponteland East with Stannington) voted in, the latter replacing fellow Tory Eileen Armstrong who didn't stand this year.