Labour retains Oldham East and Saddleworth

Labour survived a scare in Oldham East and Saddleworth to fight off the Tories with a shrunken majority of less than 1,500 votes.

Incumbent MP Debbie Abrahams narrowly beat local Conservative candidate Tom Lord to win her fourth term.

But she said that the national result was ‘absolutely devastating’ for the party and meant that Jeremy Corbyn should step down as leader ‘sooner rather than later’.

Abrahams was defending a majority of more than 8,000 after being comfortably re-elected in both 2015 and 2017, making it – on paper – a safe Labour seat held by the party for 27 years.

The last time the Tories won in the area was in 1992, before a boundary change when the seat was Littleborough and Saddleworth.

But exit polls suggested the constituency was on a knife edge leading to a tense night for campaigners on both sides.

She saw her vote share drop by more than 5,000 votes to 20,088.

The closeness of the result was indicative of a devastating night for Labour, which saw them lose both Bury seats, as well as Leigh and Heywood and Middleton in Greater Manchester to their ideological rivals.

Ms Abrahams said: “It has been certainly the most difficult election that I’ve encountered.

“It’s not just good MPs but some exceptional people who really got into politics for all the right reasons and we’ve lost them.

“It’s heartbreaking. As a party we’ve got to rebuild and start again and make sure that we are connecting with all parts of the country which possibly hasn’t happened, and listen to people.

“Corbyn has already said that he’s going to go before the next election but I think really if we’re going to rebuild it needs to be done sooner rather than later.

“A new leader needs to have time to be able to do that.”

She praised her fellow candidates for being amicable towards each other, but added that there had been a ‘nasty tone’ to the campaign.

“We knew it was going to be tough when they announced it, as there are lots of issues around Brexit obviously, and some people’s position was that they thought getting it done would solve everything,” she added.

“I still think it’s going to be difficult but my job now will be to make sure that people are protected as much as possible from a hard Brexit.

“I got into politics because I wanted to make a difference around inequalities and poverty, and I think we’re going to have our work cut out over the next four years.”

Tory candidate Tom Lord said the swing across the region reflected the conversations he was having on the doorstep during the campaign, who were frustrated the result of the referendum had not yet been implemented.

“It’s indicative of a lot of discontent and people out there are looking at Brexit and saying, ‘we want it done’,” he said.

“And the inertia, the paralysis has to stop. And it’s a case of out with the old and in with the new, clear house, and let’s try and get this over the line.

“People who are Labour voters are saying that they feel the party has left them. And this is the north, there is a disconnect there.

“That’s a shame because you need good opposition.”

He polled 18,589 votes, the highest result for the party in recent years.

The Brexit Party achieved third place in the election, with candidate Paul Brierley polling 2,980 votes.

Liberal Democrat candidate and local councillor Sam Al-Hamdani managed to win 2,423 votes, while Paul Errock from the hyper-local Proud of Oldham and Saddleworth party achieved 1,073.

Wendy Olsen won 778 votes for the Green Party, while independent Amoy Lindo was backed by 233 votes.