When are the results of the Batley and Spen by-election in 2021?
Sign up to FREE email alerts from the Northern Agenda Invalid Email Something went wrong, please try again later. Sign Up Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice  Batley and Spen will elect a new MP in today's by-election - which could prove to be another crucial test for Sir Keir Starmer's Labour Party. Bookies have the Conservatives as odds-on favourites to win the West Yorkshire seat, which has been held by Labour since 1997. A Tory victory would follow a trend that his seen the party swipe seats in traditionally Labour held areas - most recently in the Hartlepool by-election last month. READ MORE: Batley and Spen by-election: Why voters are picking new MP & who's leading polls  The by-election, the second in five years in Batley and Spen, has been triggered after previous MP Tracy Brabin was elected as the first metro mayor of the West Yorkshire region. Labours Kim Leadbeater, the sister of MP Jo Cox, who was murdered in the constituency in 2016, is up against Conservative candidate Ryan Stephenson, a councillor in Leeds. The arrival of veteran campaigner George Galloway, standing for the Workers Party, in the constituency has provided an extra headache for Labours campaign. Mr Galloway said he was targeting Labour voters in an explicit attempt to topple Sir Keir. Sign up to the free MEN email newsletter Get the latest updates from across Greater Manchester direct to your inbox with the free MEN newsletter You can sign up very simply by following the instructions here  Polls opened at 7am this morning and will close at 10pm tonight. Votes will be counted overnight and a result is expected in the early hours of tomorrow morning. The council has predicted that the winner of the by-election will be announced at around 4.30am. A Survation poll published last week put the Tories on 47 per cent, up 11 per cent from the 2019 general election, while Labour was on 43 per cent. Ms Brabin won the seat in 2019 with a 3,525 majority over the Conservatives.