Britain votes: Labour wins first seat from PM May’s Conservatives

Labour's Bridget Phillipson smiles after being announced as the winner in Houghton and Sunderland South. PHOTO: REUTERS

LONDON - Britain's Labour Party won the closely-fought seat of Vale of Clwyd in Wales from Prime Minister Theresa May's Conservative Party on Friday (June 9), the first seat to switch to Labour from May's conservatives in the election.

With 32 out of 650 seats declared, Labour was on 22, the Conservatives on 8 and other parties on 2 seats.

Earlier Labour also won by a landslide in the first two constituencies that have finished their votes counts in the general election: Newcastle and Sunderland in north-east England.

Labour's Chi Onwurah, 52, who has held the Newcastle seat since 2010, garnered 24,071 votes, compared to her closest competitor, Conservatives' Steve Kyte, who received 9,134 votes.

The win amounts to a 2 per cent swing from the Tories to Labour.

Sunderland, a Labour stronghold, also did not produce any surprises, with Ms Bridget Phillipson holding on to her seat.

She received 24,665 votes, trumping the Conservative candidate Paul Howell, who got 12,324 votes.

Additional information from Reuters

Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.