Hartlepool voters go to the polls
Voters in Hartlepool go to the polls today to elect a new MP.
The by-election was called when Peter Mandelson MP resigned his seat to take up position of EU trade commissioner in Brussels.
Labour’s candidate, Iain Wright, a local councillor in the town’s Rift House ward, is defending a sizeable majority of nearly 15,000.
The by-election comes at the close of the Labour conference and shortly before the start of the Conservatives’ in Bournemouth.
The Liberal Democrats go into the contest buoyed by recent election successes in Brent East and Leicester South.
Nearly 70,000 people are eligible to vote in the by-election.
Fourteen candidates have put their names forward for the ballot, including those from the Respect party, the Greens, UKIP and Fathers 4 Justice.
The result is expected around midnight.
Currently, bookmakers make Labour favourites to win the seat.
The Liberal Democrats are second favourite with the Conservatives some way off the race at 20-1. Anti-Europe party, UKIP, has odds of 40-1.
Lib Dem leader Charles Kennedy said the contest was heading for a “photo-finish” between his party and Labour.
“My message to the people of Hartlepool is if you want a new start and you want to save the hospital, it’s Jody Dunn and the Liberal Democrats that you should be voting for.”
