Stalybridge and Hyde general election 2024 results in full

It was a triple celebration for a close ally of Sir Kier Starmer after he increased his majority in his own seat - on his wedding anniversary.

Jonathan Reynolds has served as Shadow Secretary of State for Business and Trade for almost three years now. He now has his eyes fixed on a senior role in government, as part of what he said will be the 'most working-class cabinet since the Second World War'.

After being re-soundingly re-elected as the MP for Stalybridge and Hyde in Tameside, Mr Reynolds told the Manchester Evening News his party's turnaround in fortunes from five years ago was 'remarkable'.

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His face has been almost ever-present on our TV screens during this six-week campaign. He has frequently toured the studios plugging the message that the country is ready for change.

The first true signal that the country's electorate agreed with him came when news of the exit poll was dropped as the polls closed at 10pm.

Local canvassers embraced and posed for pictures in front of the TV screens after the predicted results were broadcast and the words 'Labour landslide' flashed up on the screen.

This has been a safe Labour seat for generations, last being won by the Tories back in 1937. The former Shadow Treasury minister in Jeremy Corbyn's team, saw his majority slashed to from over 8,000 to just under 3,000 in his former leader's 2019 election catastrophe, where they were squeezed by the Tories in traditionally core Labour areas.

But from early on in the night, the Tories sought to manage expectations. The Conservative candidate, local councillor Phil Chadwick, that he had 'more chance of batting for England in next year's Ashes' than winning the seat. He said 'governments have a shelf life' and that what had happened to his party was ultimately 'inevitable'.

Though he would have been depressed to see Reform, just as they did in neighbouring Ashton, push them into third place. Barbara Kaya got 7,781 votes compared to Mr Chadwick's 6,872. George Galloway's Workers Party failed to make an impression, finishing below the Green Party in fifth.

Mr Reynolds ultimately increased his majority to 8,539 from 2,946 five years ago. However, his vote share was down 1.1 per cent on 2019 whilst turnout was also markedly down at just 50.4pc.

He managed to squeeze in a drink with his wife Claire at a pub in the centre of the consituency, to mark their sixteenth wedding anniversary, before heading over to Dunkinfield Town Hall for the count. He used the first words of his acceptance to say 'happy anniversary, darling'. He said his party now 'had to deliver', including rebuilding Mossley station and building the Mottram bypass.

Speaking to the M.E.N after, he said: "Obviously, the national situation is exciting, but also the response here at home, that's what makes it.

"Angela [Rayner] and I have been up-and-down the country and accept those responsibilities we have, but what you really want is that support from your own people at home. Tameside was the sort of place where in 2019 some lifelong Labour supporters said they couldn't walk for us.

"That's why we had to change to win those people back. So to go back to those and see they are and they have voted Labour, is absolutely brilliant." Mr Reynolds said he was left in 'disbelief' when the results of the exit polled were published.

"I'm trying to think back to the other exit polls and how I felt," he added. "There was clearly a sense. Labour was doing well. The Reform surge into the Conservative areas was also evident so you knew that was going to be difficult.

"We'd seen where the Conservative cabinet ministers were campaigning or defending, but to be honest, if we have seen in the exit poll were true, it's still beyond anything I thought possible.

"To be honest in the days after the 2019 election, I wasn't sure how long it would be before we saw another Labour government. So it's remarkable. I don't think there's ever been such a turnaround to be honest in British history between one result and another."

Mr Reynolds said he was relishing the prospect of joining his friend and Labour parliamentary colleague Ms Rayner around the cabinet table.

"Of course, that's hugely exciting," he added. "This will be, if it reflects the shadow cabinet, the most working-class cabinet since the Second World War.

"An incredible change in terms of what people represent, a lot more people from Greater Manchester, from Merseyside, Tyne and Wear, the West Midlands.

"It's a real significant change. And there's a real difference in the agenda. The chance to implement that, of course I'm really privileged to be an MP, but in opposition there's always a bit of frustration or what the government is doing. So the chance to deliver for Tameside, for Greater Manchester and the rest of the UK, is very exciting."