The Conservatives have won the Hartlepool by-election, taking the constituency for the first time since it was created almost 50 years ago, with Jill Mortimer defeating Labour candidate Dr Paul Williams by 6,940 votes.

It comes after Labour had all but conceded defeat in the Hartlepool by-election, when a shadow cabinet member admitted the party was “not close to winning this”.

Shadow transport secretary Jim McMahon, who led the Opposition party’s campaign to hold the North East town, said it looked clear that Labour had not “got over the line”.

It means Sir Keir Starmer’s hopes of leading a Labour revival have been dealt a crushing blow after the Tories romped to victory in the Hartlepool by-election.

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The Conservatives took the seat with a stunning majority of 6,940.

Shadow communities secretary Steve Reed admitted it was an “absolutely shattering” result as another brick in the party’s once impregnable “red wall” crumbled.

It provoked a furious reaction from the Labour left – sidelined since Sir Keir became leader last year – who said the party must now change direction.

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However, Mr Reed insisted they would double down on the more centrist approach taken over the past 12 months.

“What this shows is that, although we have started to change since the cataclysm of the last general election, that change has clearly not gone far enough in order to win back the trust of the voters,” he told BBC Breakfast.

In a major boost for Boris Johnson, Conservative candidate Jill Mortimer gained 15,529 votes – more than half the total cast – with Labour’s Dr Paul Williams, trailing on 8,589.

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And early results in council contests appeared to show voters deserting Labour, with the Tories seizing Redditch and Nuneaton & Bedworth councils in the Midlands, along with Harlow in Essex and Northumberland.

In her victory speech, Ms Mortimer said the result – overturning a Labour majority of more than 3,500 at the 2019 general election – was “truly historic”.

“Labour have taken people in Hartlepool for granted for too long. I heard this time and time again on the doorstep,” she said.

Meanwhile, on the Labour left, former shadow home secretary Diane Abbott – a close ally of former leader Jeremy Corbyn - said it had been a “crushing” defeat.

“Not possible to blame Jeremy Corbyn for this result. Labour won the seat twice under his leadership. Keir Starmer must think again about his strategy,” she tweeted.

Hartlepool by-electionLabour’s Dr Paul Williams was defeated by Conservative Jill Mortimer (Owen Humphreys/PA)

Former shadow justice secretary Richard Burgon said the party needs to “urgently change direction”.

“We are going backwards in areas we need to be winning,” he tweeted.

“Labour’s leadership needs to urgently change direction. It should start by championing the popular policies in our recent manifestos.”

The left-wing, grassroots Momentum group which backed Mr Corbyn, said it was a “disaster”.

Co-chairman Andrew Scattergood said: “Starmer’s strategy of isolating the left and replacing meaningful policy with empty buzzwords has comprehensively failed.

“If he doesn’t change direction, not only will he be out of a job – but the Labour Party may be out of government forever.”