Sunderland South was the first constituency to declare a result. Labour front-bencher Chris Mullin held the seat comfortably but saw his share of the vote fall by over 4 per cent while Tory Jim Boyd saw his party's share rise by 1.17 per cent. The result was declared at 10.42p.m., 42 minutes after voting closed.
Mr Mullin said: "One-nation politics has again triumphed over two-nation politics. The people of Sunderland have led the way. Our mandate is clear."
