Labour wins general election - in the Dales there is no change

Conservatives retain Skipton & Ripon and Richmond & Northallerton and Lib Dems retain Westmoreland & Lonsdale

Sir Keir Starmer's Labour Party has won the election, and the Conservatives are headed for their worst defeat in the party's history.

After the news broke that Labour had won enough seats for a majority earlier today Mr Starmer stepped out in front of a crowd in London to huge cheers, proclaiming 'burden finally removed from the shoulders of this great nation'.

Rishi Sunak has nationally conceded defeat and steps down as PM but retains his seat in Richmond and Northallerton, with a reduced majority of just over 12,000 – down from 27,000 in 2019. He received 23,059 votes.  Labour’s Tom Wilson was second with 10,874 votes and Lee Taylor, from Reform, third with 7,142.

Mr Sunak says he will continue to represent Richmond and Northallerton for the weeks, months and years ahead.

In Craven, Julian Smith retains the conservative seat of Skipton and Ripon. He's held this seat since 2010 and took 18,833 votes to Labour's Malcolm Birks' 17,183. Simon Garvey, Reform UK with 8,516 was third.

Tim Farron has won Westmoreland and Lonsdale with over 60 percent of the votes.  Mr Farron won with 31,061 votes, Conservative candidate Matty Jackman was second with 9,589 votes and Reform UK's James Townley was third with 4,842 votes. This means Mr Farron has been elected as MP for the sixth time since first coming to power and says it was a ‘proper honour’ to have the chance to serve the area for the next few years.