The mayor of North Tyneside was left delighted after a successful night for the Labour Party in the 2022 local elections that saw the Conservative group leader lose his seat.
Coun Sean Brockbank lost his ward of Monkseaton South to Labour candidate Martin Murphy after the late arrival of thousands of postal votes saw the count go on well into the early hours of the morning. Labour also claimed the Howdon ward from councillor Maureen Madden, who did not run for re-election - thought it wasn't all good news for the party, with cabinet member for housing Steve Cox losing the Collingwood Ward to the Conservatives' Olly Scargill.
However, the party strengthened its grip on the authority further, now controlling 51 of the 60 seats on the council, with the Tories holding the remaining nine.
