LABOUR supporters were left distraught after Laura Pidcock lost her North West Durham seat in Thursday's general election.

She was seen shaking her head in disappointment after the results were announced at the election count at The Louisa Centre, in Stanley.

Ms Pidcock had been the MP for the constituency since 2017 when she received a majority of more than 8,000, having taken over from Labour predecessor Pat Glass.

The former MP, a Jeremy Corbyn supporter tipped by some as a future Labour leader, came in second place behind Conservative candidate Richard Holden.

Ms Pidcock received 18,846 votes compared to Mr Holden's 19,990.

Mr Holden said he believed winning the Labour stronghold seat was partly due to constituents' lack of faith in the Labour Party.

He said: "This is as much a rejection of the Labour Party in its current guise as it is anything else. People voted Conservative as they had confidence in me as a candidate and also Boris Johnson as a Prime Minister.

"I also think a tone of politics has been adopted here and the vicious attacking of politics from the far left has been rejected and played into the result tonight."

The new MP said he was keen to get started in his role and wanted to take constituency issues to Westminster.

He said: "We've got to get Brexit over the line so we can get on with the domestic priorities for this constituency. The issues which need addressing include protecting Shotley Bridge and working with the newly-elected Conservative MP for Bishop Auckland to try and get an accident and emergency back in the town.

"I think we also need to look at what we can do to deliver better opportunities for young people particularly in the vocational technical education sector. This constituency also has no real dual carriage way or train connection and what's really important is to get some proper transport infrastructure which I'll be lobbying for as soon as I get to Westminster."

The full list of candidates standing in North West Durham constituency were Richard Holden of the Conservative Party, Stephen Lindsay standing Independent, Michael Peacock of the Liberal Democrats, Laura Pidcock from the Labour Party, David Sewell of the Green Party, Watts Stelling standing Independent and John Wolstenholme of the Brexit Party.