The presence of the Brexit Party could well have helped tip the balance from Labour to Conservative in a number of North East seats.
Many political pundits wondered what impact the Nigel Farage-led party would have on the election.
Speaking to the BBC after the announcement of the exit poll results, he predicted: “I killed the Liberal Democrats and I hurt the Labour Party.”
And we can reveal how he did indeed hurt Labour in the North East’s North West Durham, Blyth Valley and Darlington constituencies.
In North West Durham , Jeremy Corbyn loyalist Laura Pidcock was defeated by 1,144 votes by Tory candidate Richard Holden.
Brexit Party candidate John Wolstenholme won 3,193 votes, almost certainly taking potential supporters from Ms Pidcock.
Compared to the 2017 general election, her vote was down nearly 6,500, while the Tory vote went up around 3,500, which would not have been enough to take the seat alone.
The EU referendum result in Durham saw a massive 57.5% to 42.5% victory for Leave.
In Blyth Valley a similar picture emerges.
The constituency was established as Blyth in 1950 before changing to Blyth Valley in 1983 and in all of these years it has remained Labour - until the 2019 general election, when Conservative Ian Levy took the seat by just 712 votes.
Brexit Party candidate Mark Peart received 3,394 votes, and just over 20% of that number would have seen Labour candidate Susan Dungworth take the seat.
She had replaced veteran MP Ronnie Campbell, who was a staunch Brexiter. At the EU referendum, Northumberland voted 54.1% to 45.9% in favour of Leave.
In Darlington, the Brexit party effect can be seen too in an area where people voted Leave by 56.2% to 43.8%.
Labour’s Jenny Chapman saw her vote drop by 5,000 on 2017, losing the seat by 3,300 votes.
At the same time votes for the Tory candidate went up by 1,500 while Brexit party candidate Dave Mawson won 1,544 votes.
Ironically the Brexit party also hurt the Conservative party in Hartlepool, helping Labour to hold the seat.
Tory candidate Stefan Houghton received 11,869 votes while Brexit party candidate Richard Tice got 10,603.
Despite seeing his vote shrink to 15,464, Labour’s Mike Hill held on.
If Mr Tice had stood down, Houghton could well have been Hartlepool’s new MP.
