South Shields-born politician Simon Lightwood off to House of Commons after winning Wakefield by-election - and helping land double blow on Boris Johnson

Simon Lightwood has become the new MP for Wakefield after claiming the seat back for Labour in the June 23 by-election.

The MP, reportedly a former King George school pupil, said his party was "rebuilding the red wall" after it reclaimed the West Yorkshire seat from the Conservatives.

Mr Lightwood was elected with a majority of 4,925 on a swing of 12.7% from the Tories to Labour.

A swing of almost 30% from the Tories to the Liberal Democrats saw Richard Foord secure a majority of 6,144 in the Tiverton and Honiton by-election.

The results have seen a further piling of pressure on the Prime Minister to resign.

Originally from South Shields, Mr Lightwood said he went to West Yorkshire to study at Bretton Hall College and bought his first house in Wakefield.

He has spoken in the press about his experiences with poverty in his own childhood, saying his family relied on benefits and went through the trauma of his childhood home repossessed.

He told The Mirror newsaper: “I'm not just saying the words. I’ve walked in their shoes. I was on free school meals.

"People just really want someone to help them and someone to give them a voice again, they've had nobody representing this area for over a year, and they want something to stick up for them. And that's what I intend to do."

Mr Lightwood was a case worker for Mary Creagh, MP for Wakefield from 2005 to 2019, and has served on Labour’s National Policy Forum as a Yorkshire representative.

At the time of running for parliament, he was head of communications for Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust.

Wakefield had been a Labour seat continuously from 1932 until 2019, when it was won for the Conservatives by Imran Ahmad Khan as part of the Tories' takeover of so-called red wall constituencies across the north of England.

A by-election was triggered after Mr Khan resigned earlier this year following his conviction for sexually assaulting a teenage boy.

In his victory speech, Mr Lightwood said: "The next Labour government has been born in this room tonight".

Speaking from the podium, he said: "Tonight, the people of Wakefield have spoken on behalf of the British people. They have said unreservedly: 'Boris Johnson, your contempt for this country is no longer tolerated'.”