Andy McDonald secured 10, 201 votes - 60.5% of those cast - with Richard Elvin of the UK Independence Party in second place on 1, 990 votes.

BBC: Middlesbrough by-election: Labour's Andy McDonald wins

In Middlesbrough, Labour's Andy McDonald, a solicitor for a trade union law firm and former councillor, won with 10, 201 votes to UKIP candidate Richard Elvin's 1, 990.

BBC: By-elections: Labour retains three seats

Middlesbrough's Labour MP Andy McDonald said his mother had lain on a hospital trolley for five hours at the same hospital waiting for admission to a ward.

BBC: James Cook Hospital

Reached on his cellphone on Thursday, Andy Cheung, the owner of the Harrisburg McDonald's locations, said he was too busy to comment.

WSJ: Guest Worker Visa Troubles Visit McDonald's

McDonald meanwhile has jetted out to a training camp in Le Touquet in France to join Andy Hessenthaler's squad.

BBC: Gillingham's Simeon Jackson signs for Norwich City