Stretford and Urmston by-election polls close

Polls have closed in the Stretford and Urmston by-election.

The ballot was called in the safe Labour seat after former shadow minister Kate Green stepped down to become Greater Manchester deputy mayor.

Nine candidates are bidding to succeed Ms Green, with Labour’s Trafford Council leader Andrew Western the frontrunner.

Ms Green had a majority of 16,417 in 2019 and had been MP since 2010.

The Tories came in second at the last vote, with the Lib Dems in third.

It marks Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s second by-election test at the ballot box and comes amid a cost-of-living crisis, soaring inflation and a growing wave of industrial action across the UK.

The last by-election, in the City of Chester two weeks ago, saw Samantha Dixon hold the seat for Labour after a contest was triggered by the resignation of Labour MP Christian Matheson after complaints of serious sexual misconduct were upheld by the Commons standards body.

It was the first by-election since Boris Johnson’s dramatic exit from No 10 and the market chaos that came to define Liz Truss’s short stint in the top job.

The other most recent by-elections, which took place on the same day in June, were a disaster for the Conservatives – with Labour snatching Wakefield and the Liberal Democrats securing a historic victory in Tiverton and Honiton.