The House of Commons has approved Boris Johnson's plan for a four-week lockdown - allowing it to begin just after midnight tonight.
MPs voted to back the lockdown, to continue until December 2, by 516 in favour to 38 against.
There was a small rebellion by Conservative MPs opposed to the lockdown, but Labour voted overwhelmingly with the Government, ensuring the measure had overwhelming support from MPs.
North Durham Labour MP Kevan Jones was one of the few exceptions, and chose to abstain. He said afterwards: "I didn't vote for this lockdown because I have no faith at all in the way the Government is handling this crisis"
By law, the national lockdown has to end after after December 2 - unless a new House of Commons vote is held to extend it.
Mr Johnson said it was his "express intent" that the country would then return to a system of local and regional "tiered" lockdowns. But it's not clear whether that means the "tier two" restrictions, that were imposed on the North East before the national lockdown, will resume in the region.
Instead, the Government says the next set of tiered restrictions will be based on infection rates and other relevant data at the time.
Bishop Auckland MP Dehenna Davison spoke in the debate to explain why she was voting for the measures. She said: "I want to see our life return to normal as soon as possible.
"To get our freedom back means biting the bullet now, acting decisively and suppressing the virus through this time restricted lockdown."
How North East MPs voted
In favour (constituency, MP)
Berwick-upon-Tweed, Anne-Marie Trevelyan
Bishop Auckland, Dehenna Davison
Blaydon, Liz Twist
Blyth Valley, Ian Levy
City of Durham, Mary Foy
Darlington, Peter Gibson
Easington, Grahame Morris
Gateshead, Ian Mearns
Hartlepool, Mike Hill
Hexham, Guy Opperman
Houghton and Sunderland, South Bridget Phillipson
Jarrow, Kate Osborne
Middlesbrough, Andy McDonald
Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland, Simon Clarke
Newcastle upon Tyne Central, Chi Onwurah
Newcastle upon Tyne East, Nick Brown
Newcastle upon Tyne North, Catherine McKinnell
North Tyneside, Mary Glindon
North West Durham, Richard Holden
Redcar, Jacob Young
Sedgefield, Paul Howell
South Shields, Emma Lewell-Buck
Stockton North, Alex Cunningham
Stockton South, Matt Vickers
Sunderland Central, Julie Elliott
Tynemouth, Alan Campbell
Wansbeck, Ian Lavery
Washington and Sunderland West, Sharon Hodgson
Abstained
North Durham, Kevan Jones
Against
No North East MPs voted against.
32 Conservative MPs rebel against lockdown
But some Conservative MPs in other regions refused to vote for the measures. A total of 32, including former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith, voted against.
Conservative Sir Charles Walker said: "I will not be supporting this legislation. I think it is terribly unjust and ... in many parts cruel – I will have no part of criminalising parents seeing their children, and children for seeing their parents."
Tory former minister Tim Loughton told the House of Commons: “For many, this is economic death by a thousand cuts, a salami-slicing of business and the resulting redundancies and bankruptcies, reduced wages, will affect the livelihoods and lives of so many of our constituents."
Huw Merriman (Bexhill and Battle), who voted against the measures, told MPs: "I’ve been asked have I met anybody who has lost a loved one through Covid, and the answer to that is, tragically, yes I have – and my heart goes out to them.
“But I have also attended the funeral of a friend in the last year who took his life having lost his job. I have met people who have not attended hospital appointments and now have terminal illnesses and wish to goodness they had."
Opening the debate, Prime Minister Boris Johnson sought to justify the new national lockdown. He said: "When I am confronted with data that projects our NHS could even collapse, with deaths in this second wave potentially exceeding those of the first; and when I look at what is happening now amongst some of our continental friends, and see doctors who have tested positive being ordered alas to work on covid wards, and patients airlifted to hospitals in some other countries simply to make space, I can reach only one conclusion -I am not prepared to take the risk with the lives of the British people."
He pointed out that the new national lockdown could only continue beyond December 2 with another vote from MPs. However, he didn't appear to rule this out.
Mr Johnson said: "Whatever we decide to do from 2 December will require a fresh mandate and a fresh vote from this House.
"And as I have made clear, it is my express intent that we should return to a tiered system on a local and a regional basis according to the latest data and trends."
