Bury South general election 2024 results in full

Bury South has turned red again after Labour reclaimed the constituency on a hugely successful night for the party.

Christian Wakeford held on to the seat with ease - more than two years after he defected to Sir Keir Starmer's party from the Conservatives.

One of many traditional Labour seats to turn blue in 2019, Mr Wakeford was the first Tory elected in Bury South since 1992 when he triumped on a slim majority of 402 votes.

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However, he caused a stir when, in 2022, he dramatically crossed the floor in protest against the then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

Although Mr Wakeford will remain Bury South's MP, his victory goes down as a Labour gain. He beat his Conservative opponent Rabbi Arnie Saunders by more than 9,000 votes.

Mr Wakeford polled 19,246 votes while Rabbi Saunders, a Tory councillor in Salford, received 9,886 votes.

Speaking after the result was announced in the early hours of this morning, Mr Wakeford said he felt 'humbled' at having been re-elected. The 39-year-old said his victory showed that his decision to defect to Labour was 'the right one'.

"I made it in the interest of my constituents," he said. "From what I've seen, my constituents think it was right then and it's right now. More importantly, it shows that Keir Starmer has changed the Labour Party."

Mr Wakeford said he had witnessed 'a very large level of apathy' during the election campaign, but said Labour's success across the country showed that people were 'tired of being taken for granted'.

He accused the Tories of having 'shifted to the right' in recent times.

"You win elections in the centre," he said. "What we saw during the campaign was almost a Reform-lite and a shift to the right from the Conservations.

"The further right you go, the more voters you are going to lose and that's only going to drive further apathy."

Prior to the result being announced, Tory candidate Arnie Saunders said it had been 'a challenging campaign'. Police launched an investigation earlier this week after a video clip circulating online showed Rabbi Saunders being shouted at outside a mosque in Prestwich.

“Nationally, it’s been very difficult and I don’t think it’s been any different here," he said. "Its not over until it’s over so let’s see what the results are. Whatever it is, I’m smiling.”

Bury South includes the towns of Radcliffe, Whitefield and Prestwich and is home to the second largest Jewish community in the country. New constituency boundaries also saw Kersal and Broughton Park brought into the constituency ahead of this election.

While the Tory victory in 2019 saw the seat lumped in with the so-called 'Red Wall', concerns over antisemitism under Jeremy Corbyn's leadership are likely to have played a part in Labour's defeat.

After becoming the Labour leader in 2020, Sir Keir Starmer vowed to "stamp out" anti-Semitism in the party. He is likely to view victory in Bury South as a sign that he has made good on that promise.

Mr Wakeford's victory completed a clean sweep for Labour over the Tories in both Bury constituencies. Reform UK's Jeff Armstrong finished third followed by Green Party candidate Michael Welton in fourth.

The turn-out was 56pc - down from 66pc in 2019.