Labour have comfortably won their first electoral test under Jeremy Corbyn in the Oldham West and Royton by-election.
Oldham Council leader Jim McMahon polled 17,209 votes and held the seat with a majority of 10,722 - increasing Labour's share of the vote and dashing Ukip hopes of making a breakthrough.
There were cheers from relieved Labour supporters of "We backed Jim" as Mr McMahon, 35, gave his victory speech and paid tribute to the late Michael Meacher.
He said: "I think tonight that Michael will be watching over us and I was so scared of letting people down, and that together we delivered a result that Michael would be proud of."
He said thousands of people had travelled from all over the country to ensure that Labour had a "good result".
Mr McMahon added: "I stood because I wanted to make my bit of the world a better place. I think we have come a long way, but there is still a long way to go.
"I see this Government is taking money off towns like Oldham and I am sick to death of it."
Labour's 62.2 per cent share of the vote was up 7.5 per cent on the May general election. Party leader Jeremy Corbyn tweeted he was "delighted" with the result.
Ukip's John Bickley polled 6,487 votes. His party leader Nigel Farage branded the result "perverse" and said "serious questions need to be asked". He claimed to have "evidence from an impeccable source that postal voting was bent".
Ukip deputy leader and North West MEP Paul Nuttall claimed postal voting had "distorted" the result, a claim denied by Labour.
He predicted that Ukip with have an MP in the north of England "within the next 18 months".
Result: Oldham West and Royton by-election
Labour 17,209
Ukip 6,487
Cons 2,596
Lib Dem 1,024
Greens 249
Monster Raving Loony Party 141
